Brownfields 2001 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
Fort Belknap Indian Community, MT
EPA Brownfields Initiative
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
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into
law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields 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.
Background
EPA has selected the Fort Belknap Indian Community
for a Brownfields Assessment Pilot. The Fort Belknap
Indian Community has 5,138 members, half of whom
live on the 653,940-acre reservation. The reservation,
whose residents suffer from a 70 percent unemployment
rate and a 45 percent poverty rate, is located in
north-central Montana, 30 miles south of the Canadian
border. The community already has identified several
landfills, illegal dump sites, abandoned buildings, and an
abandoned rock quarry as potential brownfields.These
sites threaten to contaminate groundwater and surface
water, including wetlands areas and the Milk River,
which serves as the community's drinking water supply.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 04/01/2001
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets several potential
brownfields sites on the reservation, where the
unemployment rate is 70 percent.
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 8 Brownfields Team
(303)312-7074
EPA Region 8 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region8/brownfields)
Grant Recipient: Fort Belknap Indian Community,
MT
(406)353-8429
Objectives
The Pilot's objective is to assess the environmental
conditions of brownfield sites and prepare a
comprehensive development plan that protects the
health of residents and sustains the Fort Belknap Indian
Community's land base. The Pilot will identify,
prioritize, and assess brownfield sites on the reservation,
with close involvement of the tribal community and
administration. Community members also will assist in
developing an affordable, sustainable, long-term
remedial design for reuse.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Preparing an inventory of brownfields on the
reservation and prioritizing them;
• Disseminating information to the public through
newspaper articles, radio announcements, and
newsletters:
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA500-F-01-278
Apr 01
-------
• Seeking input from tribal members regarding the
brownfields identification, inventory, and
prioritization process; and
• Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental
site assessments on high-priority sites.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet
been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this
fact sheet are subject to change.
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 Q ., . ,A/__t,.
E-ironmental andEmXency EPA 50°-F-°1 ^
Protection Agency ResDonse(51oVn Apr01
Washington, DC 20450 Kesponse (bl Ob I)
------- |