Brownfields 2002 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet Clackamas County, Oregon 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 Clackamas County for a Brownfields Assessment Pilot. Clackamas County (population 345,150) is one of three counties in the Portland Metropolitan Region of northwest Oregon. Nearly 13 percent of the land is urban, one-third is National Forest land, and the remainder is rural. The county is losing businesses and jobs to neighboring counties due to a shortage of industrial land to meet its needs. As a result, the county's economic base and the quality of life of its residents has declined. Since 1990, the population of Clackamas County has grown 18.6 percent, but 52 percent of the workforce commutes outside of the county for employment. The county has developed a preliminary inventory of 109 candidate brownfield sites using state and county records as well as professional contacts. The focus area of this Pilot is the area within the county's Urban Growth Boundary. This area has the necessary infrastructure and offers the greatest opportunity for economic redevelopment and revitalization. Approximately 7 percent of the county residents live below the poverty level, and 6.4 percent are unemployed. Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 05/01/2002 Amount: $200,000 Profile: Clackamas County, Oregon. The Pilot is targeting brownfields within the county's Urban Growth Boundary for outreach and site assessment activities to stimulate the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields. 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 10 Brownfields Team (206)553-7299 EPA Region 10 Brownfields Web site (http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/ sites/bf) Grant Recipient: Clackamas County,OR (503)353-4327 Objectives The county's primary objective is to stimulate the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields in order to reuse the county's industrial land area. The Pilot hopes to accomplish this objective by performing environmental site assessments at strategic brownfields that have already been inventoried and prioritized, and conducting community outreach to keep the public informed of Pilot activities. The county's goal is to collaboratively redevelop strategic brownfield sites. The Pilot will be the focal point for economic diversification and revitalization that will help the county to create more jobs, increase property values, and reduce blight and health hazards for its citizens. Activities Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-02-056 May 02 ------- • Conducting outreach to the public and property owners to inform them of resources and cleanup techniques; • Providing technical assistance to up to 20 property owners, informing them of contamination issues, possible remediation strategies, funding sources, and next steps; • Performing Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments for up to three priority brownfields; and • Preparing an integrated plan for remediation and redevelopment for at least one site. 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,. Environmental andldEmSency EPA ******* Protection Agency ResDonse(51oVn May 02 Washington, DC 20450 Kesponse (bl Ob I) ------- |