Brownfields 2003 Assessment Grant  Fact Sheet
               Woonsocket, Rl
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
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.

Community Description

The City of Woonsocket was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. Woonsocket is a federally
designated Entitlement Community with a 64 percent
low- to moderate-income population of 43,000. A portion
of the city is within a state designated Enterprise Zone.
Median household income in Woonsocket is 37 percent
lower than the statewide average, and the per capita
income is 34 percent less than that of the state. Many of
the city's older industrial areas fail to  compete with
modern facilities built on greenspace, and mill sites
conflict with residential neighborhoods. Assessment,
cleanup, and redevelopment of these properties will lead
to economic revitalization and employment. The city
plans to solicit community input through several local and
regional organizations and to promote a dialogue among
neighbors, property owners, and developers.
                     Assessment Grant

                     $103,000 for hazardous

                     EPA has selected the City of Woonsocket for a
                     brownfields assessment grant. The city plans to
                     prepare a brownfields inventory, perform Phase I
                     and Phase II environmental assessments, plan for
                     redevelopment, and organize community
                     involvement opportunities. While the
                     manufacturing area clustered near the Blackstone
                     River, an American Heritage River, is a likely
                     target area, the city is taking a comprehensive
                     approach to inventorying and selecting sites for
                     assessment.
                     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: City of Woonsocket,RI
                     (401) 767-9236

                     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)
EPA500-F-03-217
      June 2003

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