Brownfields 2009 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
              Piscataquis County Economic Development Council,  ME
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 Piscataquis County Economic Development Council
(PCEDC) was selected to receive a brownfields
assessment grant. The PCEDC serves Piscataquis  County
(population 17,235), which is located in the geographic
center of Maine. Thirty-two potential sites, located in 15
of the PCEDC's 19 primary communities, have been
identified on the state's brownfields inventory. Most of
these sites are  located in downtown areas that were
epicenters of the former shoe, textile, and wood
manufacturing empires that ruled the region from  the
1800s through the early 1900s. Today, most
manufacturing facilities are abandoned, mothballed, or
condemned. Piscataquis County's per capita and median
household incomes are significantly lower than the state
averages. Poverty and unemployment rates are
substantially higher than the statewide rates. Brownfield
assessments will facilitate the identification of threats to
human health and the environment posed by these sites,
and also are expected to help leverage private investment
in the communities' downtown areas.
                    Assessment Grant

                    $200,000 for hazardous substances

                    EPA has selected the Piscataquis County
                    Economic Development Council for a brownfields
                    assessment grant. Community-wide hazardous
                    substances grant funds will be used to inventory
                    and prioritize sites, and perform five Phase I and
                    up to three Phase II environmental site
                    assessments. Grant funds also will be used to
                    conduct cleanup planning and 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 1 Brownfields Team
                     (617)918-1424
                     EPA Region 1 Brownfields Web site
                     (http://www.epa.gov/regionl/bro wnfields)

                     Grant Recipient: Piscataquis County Economic
                     Development Council,ME
                     (800)539-0332

                     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-09-178
      May 2009

-------