s OA Brownfields 1999 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
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/ Johnstown, WY
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 Johnstown for a
Brownfields Pilot. Johnstown (population approximately
9,000) is the seat of Fulton County and is surrounded by
rural and low-income areas. The city and county were
once known as the leather capital of the world when
more than 5,300 area residents were employed in the
industry. However, changes in technology, foreign
competition, and associated environmental problems
resulted in plant closures, job losses, and a depleted tax
base. Today, 8 percent of the residents are unemployed
and Fulton's poverty rate of 13 percent is the highest of
any New York county.
The Pilot is targeting the former Karg Brothers Tannery,
whose closure in 1993 resulted in about one quarter of
the county's residents losing their jobs. The tannery was
the largest of area operations and redevelopment of the
10-acre property is the cornerstone of the city's economic
revitalization. The site, located on Cayadutta Creek, is
known to contain storage tanks of solvents, acids,
chromium compounds, dyes and pigments. Following
assessment and cleanup, existing infrastructure will help
spur redevelopment of the property.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 03/01/1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets the 10-acre former Karg
Brothers Tannery for redevelopment. The site is a
cornerstone for the city's economic revitalization.
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 2 Brownfields Team
(212) 637-4309
EPA Region 2 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region02/brownfields/)
Grant Recipient: Johnstown, NY
(518) 736-4014
Objectives
Johnstown's objective is to increase employment
opportunities for area residents and raise the city's tax
base by redeveloping the Karg Brothers Tannery site.
Revitalization of the tannery will also provide public
access to the property and to adjacent Cayadutta Creek.
The city also plans to integrate a portion of the site with
neighboring Schriver Pond Linear Park, and locate a bus
depot for the local school district on another part of the
property. The Pilot will assist the city's plans by
conducting environmental investigations on the property
and involving the community in the redevelopment
process with a Citizen Participation Plan.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
•	Performing an environmental assessment of the
Karg Brothers Tannery site;
•	Collecting soil samples from adjacent residential
properties and testing water and sediment from
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-99-013
Mar 99

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Cayadutta Creek;
•	Developing a Public Participation Plan and
conducting community outreach meetings;
•	Providing Pilot project information via the
Internet; and
•	Leveraging cleanup and redevelopment funding,
including a $200,000 goods and services
commitment from the City of Johnstown.
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
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
Solid Waste
EPA 500-F-99-013
Mar 99

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