United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-296
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
v>EPA Brownfields Supplemental
Assistance
Brockton, MA
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders
in economic redevelopment to worktogether in atimelymannerto prevent, assess, and safely clean up brownfieldsto promote
their sustainable reuse. Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion
or redevelopment is complicated by real orperceivedenvironmentalcontamination.EPAisfunding: assessment demonstration
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years, with additional funding provided for greenspace), to test
assessment models and facilitate coordinated assessment and cleanup efforts at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels;
and job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities
affected by brownfieldsto facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and preparetraineesforfuture employment intheenvironmental
field; and, a cleanup revolving loan fund program (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years) to provide financial assistance
for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities,
and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach
to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Brockton to receive
supplemental assistance for its Brownfields
Assessment Demonstration Pilot. Brockton
(population 92,788) is located in southeastern
Massachusetts, approximately 20 miles from Boston.
The percentage of Brockton families living in poverty
is double the rate of surrounding areas. Shoe and boot
-making were once Brockton's most important
industries, but factory closings and the movement of
middle-income familiesto outlying areas have left the
once thriving downtown business district in decline.
During the last 10 years, Brockton has lost
approximately 4,200 jobs.
In 1996, the city designated an Economic Corridor
running north-south through the center of Brockton
along both sides of the Old Colony Railroad. The
Corridor contains most of the city's industrially zoned
land and is Brockton's lastmajor resource for industrial
growth. Brownfields comprise about one-third of the
Economic Corridor. The state has designated the
area an economic opportunity area, making economic
development incentive s available to the city. Through
Pilot funding and EPA Targeted Brownfields
Assessments, the city has conducted assessments on
five sites spanning 27 acres in the Economic Corridor.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Award: April 2001
Amount: $100,000
Profile: The Pilot will target
the 45 Emerson Avenue site
and an additional property
located in the Economic
Corridor.
Brockton, Massachusetts
Contacts:
City of Brockton
Office of the City Planner
508/580-7113
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 1
(617)918-1389
Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/brnfld/
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES
Brockton will use its supplemental assistance grantto
expand its efforts to cleanup and redevelop the
Economic Corridor, targeting the 45 Emerson Avenue
site and an additional property located in this area.
The 45 Emerson Avenue site, a 1.5-acre site recently
acquired by the city, was used for shoe manufacturing.
One of the two buildings on the property was used for
manufacturing bulletproof vests and was most recently
used as a paint ball facility. The property was
foreclosed on last year. Pilot activities have focused
primarily on city-owned properties in the Corridor
and additional properties the city has assumed through
tax foreclosure. The Pilot will continue these activities
and also facilitate the cleanup and redevelopment of
privately owned properties in the Corridor.
The Pilot plans to:
• Update the brownfield site inventory with recently
acquired properties and create an inventory of
privately owned sites;
• Conduct environmental assessments on the 45
Emerson Avenue site and an additional site to be
determined;
• Conduct community involvement and environmental
justice activities focusing on site assessment and
reuse options for the two sites; and
• Develop site reuse plans for the two assessed sites
(e.g., cleanup options and potential reuses).
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this tact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Supplemental Assistance Brockton, Massachusetts
April 2001 EPA 500-F-01-296
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