Brownfields 2009 Cleanup Grant Fact
Sheet
Barberton, OH
RECOUERY.GOV
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
February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into
law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The
Recovery Act is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our
economy, and create or save millions of jobs. This law
provided stimulus funds to the Brownfields Program to
award grants to evaluate and clean up former industrial
and commercial sites. Under this law, EPA will provide
financial assistance to eligible applicants through four
competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving
loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants.
Community Description
The City of Barberton was selected to receive a
brownfields cleanup grant. Barberton (population 27,889)
is located in northern Ohio just outside of Akron. It is a
traditional "Rust Belt" city where industry has played a
significant role for more than 100 years and where,
consequently, there are many potential brownfield sites.
Past rubber, iron, and steel industries have left the city
with vast tracts of contaminated land, deteriorating public
infrastructure, a depleted tax base, and high
unemployment. Brownfields make up nearly 20 percent of
the available land in the city. In the city's downtown
corridor, the unemployment rate is 13 percent, and 52
percent of residents live below the poverty level. The
target cleanup site lies near the heart of the city's
distressed downtown corridor. Cleanup of the site will
reduce threats of exposure to petroleum contaminants
originating at the site and is expected to allow the city to
move forward with plans to redevelop the site into a city
park and learning lab.
Cleanup Grant
$200,000 for petroleum (Recovery Act
Funding)
EPA has selected the City of Barberton for a
brownfields cleanup grant. Petroleum grant funds
will be used to clean up the Pete's Sunoco site on
496 4th Street. The site was a service station from
the 1930s through the 1990s, and the subsurface is
contaminated with petroleum. Grant funds also
will be used for 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 Barberton,OH
(330) 848-6729
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-09-066
May 2009
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