United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-00-160
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
EPA Brownfields Cleanup
Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
Lewiston, ME
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
PILOT SNAPSHOT
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders
in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for
redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two
years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup
of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund
programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds to make loans 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
Incorporated in 1795, the City of Lewiston is Maine's
second largest city. With a strategic location on the
Androscoggin River, it developed into a major
manufacturing center. As textile and manufacturing
jobs moved south in the mid 20th century, however, the
City's economy began to decline. The area that
surrounds its major mill, the Bates Mill, is one of the
poorest in the nation with a poverty rate of over 40
percent. The loss of jobs (5,000 in the Bates Mill
alone) created significant unemployment in the City's
downtown and riverfront areas. Lewiston was
designated the first rural Enterprise Community in New
England. Lewiston is a Brownfield Assessment Pilot.
BCRLF OBJECTIVES
Lewiston lacks space for development. Future
redevelopment must rely on the productive reuse of
brownfield properties. Overall, Lewiston's BCRLF
goals include:
• Providing gap funding to revitalize
abandoned/underutilized mill complexes;
• Creating and increasing the number of jobs in the
Bates Mill complex;
Date of Announcement:
May 2000
Amount: $500,000
BCRLF Target Area:
Bates Mill Complex
Lewiston, Maine
Contacts:
City of Lewiston
Development Department
(207)784-2951x315
Region 1 BCRLF
Coordinator
(617)918-1210
Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
www.epa.gov/region01/waste/brown/index.htm
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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• Easing development pressure on greenfields; and
• Expanding Lewiston's tax base by maximizing
commercial re-use of abandoned/underutilized
industrial properties.
The City of Lewiston's BCRLF will focus initially on
the 5-acre, one million square foot complex of Bates
Mill. After the initial loan for the Bates Mill cleanup
has been implemented and repaid, the City will
restructure its program to focus on sites throughout
Lewiston, including Libbey Mill.
FUND STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS
The City of Lewiston will serve as lead agency; the
Maine Department of Environmental Protection as site
manager; and the Development Department as fund
manager. The City anticipates making three to five
loans over the five years of the BCRLF Pilot.
LEVERAGING OTHER RESOURCES
The Bates Mill Brownfields Redevelopment Initiative
has already attracted investment from: 1) the US
Department of Housing and Urban Development's
Economic Development Initiative; 2) US Department
of Housing and Urban Development Community
Development Block Grants and Section 108; 3) the US
Department of Agriculture's Rural Business Enterprise
Grant Program; 4) City general obligation bonds; and
5) private investment (including revenues generated
from the sale of three buildings). Lewiston anticipates
continuing to seek funding from these sources, among
others, to leverage the BCRLF.
Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with
CERCLA, and all CERCLA restrictions on use of funding
also apply to BCRLF funds.
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot Lewiston, Maine
May 2000 EPA 500-F-00-160
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