Brownfields 2010 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
™ Waterbury Development Corporation, CT
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 Waterbury Development Corporation was selected to
receive two brownfields assessment grants. Waterbury
(population 107,902) is located 33 miles southwest of
Hartford. Nicknamed the "Brass City," Waterbury
prospered on a broad base of manufacturing. But as this
strong industrial past declined over time, it left a legacy of
abandoned and contaminated properties. There are nearly
200 suspected brownfields and 26 confirmed brownfields
in Waterbury. Many sites are contaminated with heavy
metals and other byproducts of the brass and metals
industries. Former service stations and closed vehicle
repair centers add to the blight. The city's unemployment
rate has exceeded the state rate for almost all of the last
seven years. The poverty rate exceeds 30 percent in
inner-city neighborhoods where there are more than 50
brownfields and a concentration of minority residents.
Assessment of brownfields is expected to foster cleanup
and reuse of the city's older commercial and industrial
corridors, thereby improving the tax base and promoting
smart growth.
Assessment Grants $200,000 for
hazardous substances $200,000 for
petroleum
EPA has selected the Waterbury Development
Corporation for two brownfields assessment
grants. Community-wide hazardous substances
grant funds will be used to perform six Phase I and
six Phase II environmental site assessments and
conduct cleanup planning. Petroleum grant funds
will be used to conduct four Phase I and four
Phase II environmental site assessments.
Petroleum grant funds also will be used to prepare
four cleanup plans and conduct 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: Waterbury Development
Corporation,CT
(203) 346-2607 ext 103
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-10-009
April 2010
------- |