Brownfields  2003 Assessment  Grant Fact  Sheet
               Bridgeport, CT
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 City of Bridgeport was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. The City of Bridgeport is
a federal Enterprise Community. Although grant funds
will be used to assess sites throughout Bridgeport, the
city is focusing most of its assessment efforts at four
sites in the economically distressed East End
community. Sections of the East End have
unemployment rates as high as 18 percent and poverty
rates as high as 80 percent. The East End is a primarily
African American neighborhood with numerous
brownfields sites, and has been a focus of the city's
brownfields revitalization efforts in recent years. The
city is working with a private developer to build new
homes in the neighborhood and is working to rebuild
manufacturing around the neighborhood to create new
jobs and a stable tax base.
                   Assessment Grant

                   $200,000 for hazardous substances
                   $200,000 for petroleum

                   EPA has selected the City of Bridgeport for a
                   brownfields assessment grant. The grant funds will
                   be used to conduct assessment activities at four sites
                   contaminated with hazardous substances and
                   petroleum in the city's East End neighborhood.
                   Assessments also will be conducted at additional
                   sites contaminated by petroleum and hazardous
                   substances throughout the city. A portion of grant
                   funds will be used for health monitoring and to
                   conduct community involvement 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 1 Brownfields Team
                   (617)918-1424
                   EPA Region 1 Brownfields Web  site
                   (http: //www. epa.gov/region 1 /brownfields)

                   Grant Recipient: City of Bridgeport,CT
                   (203) 576-7221

                   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 500-F-03-058
        Jun 03

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