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Brownfields 1998 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
Fort Wayne, IN
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 Fort Wayne for a
Brownfields Pilot. The Pilot targets the Bowser Pump
Plant site within the Hanna-Creighton neighborhood
(population 2,786), one of the most severely distressed
areas in the state. The population in this neighborhood is
89% African American and suffers from a 45% poverty
rate, 25% unemployment rate, and one of the highest
crime rates in the city. The Hanna-Creighton
neighborhood is located within a state-designated Urban
Enterprise Zone.
The 12.5-acre Bowser site is an abandoned,
tax-delinquent property with a history of industrial
activities dating back 100 years. Bowser & Co., an oil
pump manufacturer, went out of business in the 1950s,
and subsequent owners abandoned the site in 1995. The
site currently includes a former iron foundry and a
transformer building, as well as machine shops, plating
facilities, and a manufacturing complex. These past
industrial uses negatively impact the Hanna-Creighton
neighborhood today. Dilapidated housing and
infrastructure with poor access to transportation
corridors, coupled with potential environmental
contamination from past industrial activities, combine to
inhibit cleanup and redevelopment.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 05/01/1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets a brownfields property in
the Hanna-Creighton neighborhood, one of the most
severely distressed neighborhoods in the state.
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 5 Brownfields Team
(312)886-7576
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields)
Grant Recipient: City of Fort Wayne,IN
(219)427-2138
Objectives
The city's brownfields program wants to ensure that
investments in urban brownfields redevelopment are
sustainable. The city intends to achieve this objective by
building neighborhood capacity and initiating "smart
growth" policies that encourage brownfields
development and discourage urban sprawl. The city will
use the Pilot to assess contamination at the Bowser site,
and involve the community in cleanup and
redevelopment planning. The state Department of
Environmental Management will assist with assessment
and future cleanup of this brownfields area. In addition,
private and non-profit commitments have been secured.
Pilot funds may also be used to assess other area
brownfields.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting environmental assessments at the
Bowser Pump Plant site;
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-98-149
May 98

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•	Informing and educating Hanna-Creighton
neighborhood residents about the Pilot's plans to
assess the site, and encouraging community
involvement in subsequent cleanup and
redevelopment; and
•	Developing cleanup and redevelopment plans for
the site that reflect neighborhood needs.
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-98-149
May 98

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