Brownfields 2010 Assessment Grant  Fact Sheet
               Akron, OH
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 Akron was selected to receive a brownfields
assessment grant. Located south of Cleveland along the
Ohio and Erie Canal, Akron (population 201,807) was the
fastest growing city in America in the 1900s. The rubber
industry made Akron the "Rubber Capital of the World"
and the home of major tire and rubber manufacturers such
as B.F. Goodrich, Goodyear Tire, and Firestone Tire. The
city's robust industrial past has left behind century-old
manufacturing plants, dump sites, and abandoned
warehouse and railroad facilities. These facilities are
surrounded by densely populated residential
neighborhoods. An initial inventory identified 75
brownfield sites, 48 of which are in Akron's three target
redevelopment areas. These areas, the Riverwalk and
Bridgestone Redevelopment Areas and the Biomedical
Corridor, have higher unemployment and poverty rates
than the city average. Brownfield assessments will
provide information about the relative risks posed by the
sites and help the city capitalize on multi-million dollar
private investments related to its three target areas.
                     Assessment Grant

                     $200,000 for hazardous substances

                     EPA has selected the City of Akron for a
                     brownfields assessment grant. Community-wide
                     hazardous substances grant funds will be used to
                     perform five to eight Phase I and five Phase II
                     environmental site assessments and develop five
                     cleanup plans. Grant funds also will be used to
                     support community outreach 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 5 Brownfields Team
                     (312)886-7576
                     EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
                     (http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfiel ds)

                     Grant Recipient: City of Akron,OH
                     330-375-2133

                     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)
EPA560-F-10-116
      April 2010

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