Brownfields 2010 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
Boston, MA
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 Boston was selected to receive two
brownfields assessment grants. Boston (population
609,023) is focusing its assessment efforts in the
Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan, and Roxbury
neighborhoods (population 217,978). Since its founding
in 1630, the city has seen major changes in the
commercial and industrial business sectors. By the
mid-1800s through the 1900s, it was a center for
manufacturing, with a network of rivers and railroads
that provided easy transport of goods from mills and
factories. Shipping and fishing also played a major role
in the economy. The mills and factories eventually
were abandoned, leaving a legacy of contamination,
brownfields, and blight. There are 3,920 contaminated
sites in the city, and 995 potential brownfields in the
target neighborhoods. In these communities, up to 29.2
percent of residents live below the poverty level, and up
to 97 percent of residents are minorities. The
foreclosure rates are almost four times higher than
those of central Boston. Assessment of brownfields will
provide environmental information to developers and
local communities, and is expected to allow the city to
screen properties for potential urban gardening lots.
Assessment Grants
$200,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Boston for two
brownfields assessment grants. Community-wide
hazardous substances and petroleum grant funds will
be used to perform 80 Phase I environmental site
assessments and Phase II environmental site
assessments on an undetermined number of those
sites. Assessments will focus on a transportation
corridor in the Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan,
and Roxbury neighborhoods. Grant funds also will
be used to develop fact sheets on 20 sites.
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 Boston,MA
617-635-0103
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-10-010
Apr 10
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