Brownfields 2009 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
               Oakland County, Ml
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

Oakland County was selected to receive a brownfields
assessment coalition grant. Oakland County's (population
1,217,898) coalition partners are the Cities of Farmington
Hills, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, and
Pontiac. The cities are in the Detroit metropolitan area in
southeast Michigan. The county is heavily dependent on
automotive manufacturing. The decline of this industrial
sector has left a legacy of abandoned and potentially
contaminated brownfields. According to the state, the
county has more than 900 known contaminated properties.
It also contains an additional 75 dry cleaners and 200 auto
repair shops, as well as many former service stations.
Populations and tax revenues in the coalition cities are
decreasing, and in one of the most distressed of these
cities, the poverty rate is 22 percent. Assessment of
brownfields will provide information on site conditions
and is expected to help spur brownfields cleanup  and
redevelopment.
                     Assessment Grant

                     $703,050 for hazardous substances
                     $296,950 for petroleum

                     EPA has selected Oakland County for a
                     brownfields assessment coalition grant.
                     Community-wide hazardous substances and
                     petroleum grant funds will be used to inventory
                     brownfields, prioritize sites, and conduct up to 60
                     Phase I and 30 Phase II  environmental site
                     assessments. Grant funds also will be used to
                     conduct cleanup planning and community
                     involvement 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: Oakland County,MI
                     (248) 858-8073

                     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-09-030
      May 2009

-------