Brownfields  2004 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
               Toa Baja, PR
EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states.
communities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed
into law the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields
Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible
applicants through four competitive grant programs:
assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup
grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding
support is provided to state and tribal response
programs through a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The Municipality of Toa Baja was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. Toa Baja's 94,085
residents in northern Puerto Rico have an
unemployment rate of 41.3 percent and a poverty rate
of 37.2 percent. Unemployment is 44 percent among
the 722 residents in Pueblo Ward, the target area in Toa
Baja's urban core. Delays in channeling the La Plata
River, which often causes devastating floods in Toa
Baja, have forced businesses to relocate and, as a result,
the Pueblo Ward has languished economically and
socially. Now  that the Army Corps of Engineers is set
to begin channeling the river, assessment and
redevelopment of the target site will be the first step
toward revitalizing the area and rejuvenating economic
opportunities.
                   Assessment Grant

                   $200,000 for hazardous substances

                   EPA has selected the Municipality of Toa Baja for a
                   brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be
                   used to perform Phase I and II assessments, develop
                   a cleanup plan, and conduct community outreach for
                   a former medical center site in the Pueblo Ward of
                   Toa Baja. A variety of solvents and metals may have
                   contaminated this deteriorated site.

                   Contacts

                   For further information, including specific grant
                   contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
                   news and events, and publications and links, visit
                   the EPA Brownfields Web site
                   (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).

                   EPA Region 2 Brownfields Team
                   (212) 637-4309
                   EPA Region 2 Brownfields Web site
                   (http://www.epa.gov/region02/brownfields/)
                   Grant Recipient: Municipality of Toa Baja,
                   PR
                   Municipality of Toa Baja
                   (787) 261-0202 ext 2200

                   Municipality of Toa Baja
                   (787) 261-0202 ext 2426

                   The information presented in this fact sheet comes
                   from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
                   accuracy of this information. The cooperative
                   agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated.
                   Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are
                   subject to change.
  United States
  Environmental
  Protection Agency
  Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 560-F-04-096
        Jun 04

-------