Brownfields 2009 Assessment Grant
Fact Sheet
Durham, NC
RECOUERY.GOV
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
February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into
law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The
Recovery Act is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our
economy, and create or save millions of jobs. This law
provided stimulus funds to the Brownfields Program to
award grants to evaluate and clean up former industrial
and commercial sites. Under this law, EPA will provide
financial assistance to eligible applicants through four
competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving
loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants.
Community Description
The City of Durham was selected to receive two
brownfields assessment grants. Over the past 20 years,
changing market forces have negatively impacted the
most prominent industries in Durham (population
201,204). The closing of these industries has resulted in
numerous brownfields. Much of the city's targeted
Northeast Central Durham (NECD) area consists of active
and abandoned industrial facilities. Brownfields inventory
efforts have identified 29 sites. These sites include
chemical facilities, scrap yards, automobile repair and gas
stations, and railroad property. Most are next to
low -income minority communities that could be impacted
by site-related air pollutants and groundwater
contamination. As of September 2008, the NECD area's
unemployment rate was 15 percent. More than 36 percent
of area families live below the poverty level, and 88
percent of residents are minorities. Brownfield
assessments will allow the city to identify contaminated
areas, and help facilitate cleanup. Redevelopment efforts
are focused on establishing mixed-income, mixed-use
neighborhoods in the NECD area.
Assessment Grant
$200,000 for hazardous substances
(Recovery Act Funding)
$200,000 for petroleum (Recovery Act
Funding)
EPA has selected the City of Durham for two
brownfields assessment grants. Community-wide
hazardous substances grant funds will be used to
conduct five to six Phase I and three to four Phase
II environmental site assessments. Petroleum grant
funds will be used to conduct seven to eight Phase
I and five to six Phase II environmental site
assessments. Grant funds also will be used to
update the city's inventory of sites, support
community outreach activities, and conduct
cleanup planning. The city will focus on
properties in Northeast Central Durham.
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 4 Brownfields Team
(404) 562-8792
EPA Region 4 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region4/was te/bf)
Grant Recipient: City of Durham,NC
(919) 560-4965
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-09-054
May 2009
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