s OA Brownfields 1996 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
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/ Lawrence, MA
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 selected the City of Lawrence for a Brownfields
Pilot. Lawrence was one of the first planned industrial
cities in the country in the mid-1800s. Mills, industrial
buildings, underground water raceways, and homes were
built in close proximity, and now constitute historic
preservation areas. However, Lawrence is now the 23rd
poorest city in the nation, with a 15 percent
unemployment rate. Seven thousand jobs were lost
during the 1980s, even in the midst of the Massachusetts
economic boom. This decline primarily affects the large
minority population in the district. The City is actively
participating in an effort to redevelop contaminated
properties through the Lawrence Gateway Project.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 01/25/1996
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets three priority sites in the
North Canal Industrial Corridor, a one and a
quarter-mile stretch along the Merrimack River
containing former textile mills, landfills, and paper
manufacturers.
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 Lawrence,MA
(508)393-6779
Objectives
Through this effort, the City plans to promote economic
development within the designated brownfields
Lawrence Gateway Project area, while enhancing the
quality of life for those who work, visit and live within
the area. The City is carefully coordinating the
implementation of the Pilot with several overlapping
City-wide economic development initiatives. Lawrence
is also working to build on existing outreach efforts to
encourage involvement with the community's minority
groups and other stakeholders.
Activities
Through this effort, the City plans to promote economic
development within the designated brownfields
Lawrence Gateway Project area, while enhancing the
quality of life for those who work, visit and live within
the area. The City is carefully coordinating the
implementation of the Pilot with several overlapping
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-97-019
May 97

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City-wide economic development initiatives. Lawrence
is also working to build on existing outreach efforts to
encourage involvement with the community's minority
groups and other stakeholders.
The Pilot has:
•	Appointed a Steering Committee which includes
the neighborhood association, local businesses,
and environmental groups.
The Pilot is:
•	Developing preliminary inventories of industrial
and commercial properties within the North
Canal Industrial Corridor, and identifying
potential beneficial land uses including:
integrating inventory data into an existing
geographic information system (GIS) database;
selecting three priority sites for "site focus
investigations" that include environmental
evaluations and conceptual redevelopment
planning; and preparing supplementary
investigation plans to outline additional
information needs;
•	Preparing a user-document that outlines
economic incentives and other financing
instruments available for brownfields
redevelopment projects; and
•	Planning to review and expand Lawrence's
community advisory committees and increase
outreach and community education programs.
Experience with the Lawrence Pilot has been a catalyst
for related activities including the following.
•	Lawrence has been designated as a Groundworks
Trust Community. This partnership between the
EPA and the National Park Service is intended to
improve the natural, economic and social
environment of Lawrence while developing local
grassroots conservation organizations with the
ability to conserve local rivers, trails and open
spaces.
•	Coordinating redevelopment plans and activities
among the City, State agencies, and Federal
departments.
•	Planning to adapt the State of Massachusetts'
Clean Site Initiative within the City of Lawrence.
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
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
Solid Waste
EPA 500-F-97-019
May 97

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described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
United States	c
Environmental	anri Fmpflpn™	EPA 500-F-97-019
j. i- a	ancl Emergency	..
Protection Agency	Response (5105T)	MaV97
Washington, DC 20450	^ v '

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Brownfields 1996 Supplemental Assessment
Pilot Fact Sheet
City of Lawrence, MA
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 Lawrence to receive
supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot and additional funding for
assessments at Brownfields properties to be used for
greenspace purposes. Originally a farming town,
Lawrence was transformed into one of the first planned
industrial cities in the country in the mid-1800s. Mills,
industrial buildings, underground water raceways, and
homes, which were built in close proximity to one
another, now constitute historic preservation areas.
However, Lawrence has the lowest per capita income and
highest unemployment rate in Massachusetts. Seven
thousand jobs were lost during the 1980s, even in the
midst of the Massachusetts economic boom. This decline
primarily affects the large minority population in the city.
The original Pilot targeted three sites as part of the city's
Lawrence Gateway Project (LGP), an overall
revitalization strategy for the city's downtown industrial,
commercial, and residential centers. The three sites are
the Everett Mills warehouse, the Atlantic powerhouse,
and the Oxford paper mill. The supplemental grant funds
will be used for soil and subsurface assessments at the
Oxford site in preparation for construction of a new
entrance way bridge to the Gateway. Additional funding
will be used for assessments on at least four sites in the
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 04/01/2001
Amount: $150,000
$50,000 for Greenspace
Profile: City of Lawrence, MA. The Pilot will target
the Oxford paper mill site for environmental
assessments and four sites for greenspace reuse.
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 Lawrence,MA
(978) 794-5891
Objectives
The Lawrence Pilot will use the EPA supplemental
assistance grant to fund environmental site assessments
at the Oxford paper mill site. Of the three sites
originally targeted by the Pilot, the Oxford site is the
only one that still needs to be assessed. The historical
use of the site has left the area contaminated with
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and there is the
possibility of contamination from polyaromatic
hydrocarbons. Once the assessments are completed, the
city will be able to proceed with cleanup and
redevelopment plans for the site.
The Pilot has also been selected to receive funding for
greenspace reuse. The Pilot targets four sites in the
North Common neighborhood for environmental
assessments with the intent of creating greenspace. The
greenspace development is being led by grassroots
efforts and includes the creation of a playground on a
vacant commercial lot, a community garden on a large
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-01-298
Apr 01

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North Common neighborhood, a residential area in the
Gateway connected to the Oxford site by the Spicket
River, targeted for greenspace creation. The targeted
sites are those which the community has laid claim to
through grassroots efforts to create badly needed open
and recreational space on formerly commercial and
industrial land. Greenspace reuse activities in the North
Common neighborhood are being aided by the city's
partnership with the National Park Service to improve the
physical environment in brownfields communities.
vacant lot, and a greenway along the Spicket River,
which includes two targeted sites.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
•	Conduct environmental site assessments at the
Oxford paper mill site;
•	Conduct Phase I and Phase II environmental site
assessments at the four sites targeted for
greenspace reuse; and
•	Partner with the Reviviendo Planning Group and
Groundwork Lawrence, a forum of public and
private stakeholders, in planning the greenspace
activities in the North Common neighborhood.
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	c
Environmental	anri Fmpflpn™ EPA 500-F-01-298
_ . .	and Emergency . _.
Protection Agency	Response (5105*0 Apr°1
Washington, DC 20450	^ v '

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