w5 PR Brownfields 1997 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet Hartford, CT 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 the City of Hartford as a Brownfields Pilot. Of the more than 1,100 acres in the city that were once in productive use, 30 percent have been abandoned since 1986. More than 750 buildings, presenting unknown environmental hazards, are vacant as the result of industrial migration from the city. The industrial exodus has presented serious economic and social problems for the city. In 1995, 62 percent of the city's population of 125,100 was identified as living below federal low-to-moderate income guidelines. Between 1989 and 1995, the number of jobs fell by 22 percent. The city believes that to reverse this decline it must be able to offer inner city sites of comparable acreage and accessibility as those offered by suburban locations for redevelopment. The pilot will target blighted and deteriorated sites in three Hartford neighborhoods-Sheldon/Charter Oak, Upper Albany, and Clay Arsenal. Unemployment rates in these target areas range from 15 to 24 percent, and minority population rates range from 80 to 99 percent. Although each of these neighborhoods has attempted to address economic problems through community-based efforts, the perception of environmental contamination has impeded redevelopment. The city believes that, without site investigations, potential purchasers will Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 05/13/1997 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The pilot will target blighted and deteriorated sites in three Hartford neighborhoods - Sheldon/Charter Oaks, Upper Albany and Clay Arsenal. 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/brownfields) Grant Recipient: City of Hartford,CT (860) 543-8655 mntinnp +n m/rvirl tlif* nnVn mxm pih/i 1 mnm ricVc cit Objectives Hartford's goal is to attract manufacturing and commercial industries to brownfields sites. Pilot objectives are to select three brownfields sites for redevelopment, conduct environmental assessments at the three sites, develop site-specific redevelopment strategies, and conduct community outreach. Activities Activities planned as part of this pilot include: • Prioritizing and evaluating brownfields sites to determine their redevelopment potential, and selecting three target sites; • Conducting preliminary environmental assessments at the three target sites; • Developing site-specific redevelopment strategies for these sites; • Developing a model for community residents participating in brownfields redevelopment United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-97-111 Apr 97 ------- Wll 1/111UV UV V1U U1V U111V11V »V 11 Vll * 11V11111V111U1 111JIV1J Ml these brownfields. planning; and • Educating the community about barriers to redevelopment. 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 and Emergency Response (5105T) Solid Waste EPA 500-F-97-111 Apr 97 ------- w5 PR Brownfields 1997 Supplemental Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet City of Hartford, CT 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 awarded the City of Hartford supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot. During the 1980s and 1990s, the State of Connecticut experienced a major shift in military and industrial employment. The industrial exodus created a number of serious economic and social problems for Hartford. The number of jobs fell by 22 percent between 1989 and 1995. In 1995, 62 percent of the city's population of 125,100 was living below federal low- to moderate-income guidelines. Additionally, industrial migration resulted in a large number of abandoned sites and buildings with potential environmental hazards, e.g., ash from a time when ash was used as fill for properties and toxic substances from old plating and manufacturing processes. Presently, one-third of all land zoned for commercial or industrial uses in Hartford can be classified as brownfields. In 1997, the City of Hartford became part of EPA's Brownfield Initative. With funds received from EPA and leveraged from other entities, the city was able to identify over 30 properties of community concern, contract for 16 Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) and complete 12 of these ESA's, and conduct 9 Phase II assessments. The city was also able to add value to its real estate, and improve its policies regarding the environmental conditions of abandoned and foreclosed Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 03/01/2000 Amount: $150,000 Profile: City of Hartford, CT. The Pilot will target four sites for assessment and/or development of cleanup plans. 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/brownfields) Grant Recipient: City of Hartford,CT (860) 543-8637 Objectives The City of Hartford will use the supplemental assistance to help reverse the economic decline of the past by preparing four sites for redevelopment and ultimately transferring these properties back to the city tax roles. Redevelopment of these properties will help cut down on development in rural areas and, therefore, help to preserve the identity and historic quality of Connecticut's small towns and villages. To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to: • Conduct Phase II ESA's at three sites on the city's inventory: Locust Street, 393 Homestead Avenue, and 17-35 Bartholomew Avenue; • Prepare cleanup plans for four sites on the city's inventory: Locust Street, 393 Homestead Avenue, 17-35 Bartholomew Avenue, and Sand Park; and • Continue to work with the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Department of Health, the U.S. Department of United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-00-022 Apr 00 ------- properties Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Trinity College, Knox Park Foundation, Co-Opportunity, Concerned Citizens to Save the Sheldon Charter Oak Neighborhood, SAND, Parkville Business Association, and the NRZs through Hartford 2000. 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 c Environmental anri Fmpflpn™ EPA 500-F-00-022 _ . . and Emergency . __ Protection Agency Response (5105*0 Apr°° Washington, DC 20450 ^ v ' ------- |