: Brownfields 2009 Assessment Grant
Fact Sheet
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, WA
REC(M(H.GBV
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
February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed
into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The Recovery Act is an unprecedented effort to
jumpstart our economy, and create or save millions of
jobs. This law provided stimulus funds to the
Brownfields Program to award grants to evaluate and
clean up former industrial and commercial sites. Under
this law, EPA will provide financial assistance to
eligible applicants through four competitive grant
programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund
grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants.
Community Description
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department was
selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. The
target community is in the City of Tacoma and parts of
Pierce County (population 745,411). Extending west
from Mount Rainier to the southern portion of the Puget
Sound, the area is a regional trade and service center
with manufacturing and agricultural economies, and
three military installations. Since the mid-1800s,
Tacoma's economy has been resource-based and later
included manufacturing. The Port of Tacoma is now an
international gateway to the Pacific Rim. There are 736
former gas stations dating back to the 1920s in the
county, of which 645 are in the target community.
These sites threaten the public drinking water aquifer in
the target neighborhoods. In the areas with higher
numbers of gas station sites, 27.8 percent of residents
are minorities, and 14.8 percent of residents live below
the poverty level. Assessment of former gas stations is
expected to reduce redevelopment uncertainties,
identify environmental and public health concerns,
educate the community, and catalyze cleanup and
redevelopment.
Assessment Grant
$200,000 for petroleum (Recovery Act
Funding)
EPA has selected the Tacoma-Pierce County Health
Department for a brownfields assessment grant.
Community-wide petroleum grant funds will be used
to conduct from 5 to 10 Phase I and II environmental
site assessments and develop cleanup plans for
former gas stations. Grant funds also will be used to
support the Neighborhood Advisory Board for
Redevelopment and community outreach activities.
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 10 Brownfields Team
(206)553-7299
EPA Region 10 Brownfields Web site
(http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/
sites/bf)
Grant Recipient: Tacoma-Pierce County Health
Department, WA
(253) 798-4784
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-09-068
May 09
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