Brownfields  2009 Assessment  Grant Fact  Sheet
               Conneaut,  OH
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. In
2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help
states and communities around the country cleanup and
revitalize brownfields sites. Under this 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 City of Conneaut was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. Located on Lake Erie at
the northeast tip of Ohio, Conneaut (population 12,357)
was one of the world's largest international coal and ore
shipping ports, dating back to the 1800s. By the
mid-1970s, plant closings resulted in unemployment
and left behind more than 100 acres of underused and
blighted property. In 2008, an electric illuminating
company announced that it would close, thereby
increasing unemployment. The shipping yards that once
employed 500 now struggle to employ 30 people.
Historical tanneries, fisheries, and machine shops have
contaminated the downtown industrial area. Per capita
income for city residents is $14,703. Assessment of
brownfields is expected to catalyze site cleanups, which
in turn are expected to provide incentives for businesses
to locate and prosper in the downtown, harbor, and
Route 20 Corridor areas.
                   Assessment Grant

                   $200,000 for hazardous substances

                   EPA has selected the City of Conneaut for a
                   brownfields assessment grant. Community-wide
                   hazardous substances grant funds will be used to
                   inventory and prioritize Conneaut's brownfields,
                   conduct six to eight Phase I and two to three Phase II
                   environmental site assessments, prepare cleanup
                   plans, and support 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 5 Brownfields Team
                   (312)886-7576
                   EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web  site
                   (http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields)

                   Grant Recipient: City of Conneaut,OH
                   (440)593-7416

                   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-09-234
        May 09

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