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Brownfields 2000 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
Crow Nation, Montana
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 Crow Nation for a Brownfields
Pilot. The Crow Indian Reservation is located in
southcentral Montana and includes portions of
Yellowstone and Big Horn counties. The reservation
proper, which includes 3,521 square miles, has a distinct
rural character and is home to several small
communities, including Crow Agency, Garryowen,
Lodge Grass, Wyola, Fort Smith, St. Xavier, and Pryor.
Population on the reservation is estimated at 10,000
(approximately 8,000 tribal members and 2,000
non-tribal members), and unemployment on the
reservation is estimated at 70 percent in the summer
months and 80 percent in the winter months.
The Big Horn Carpet Mill Redevelopment Initiative- the
focus of the Crow Nation Pilot-is located wholly on
tribally owned trust lands, located in Crow Agency. The
Big Horn Carpet Mill commenced production in April
1968. Known contaminants used at the site included
chemical dyes, glues, and mixtures of chemicals used to
manufacture and treat carpets, as well as cleaning
solvents for the machinery in the factory. Additionally,
there may have been other chemicals used at the site that
may presently pose health threats. Since the site was
abandoned in 1974, it has been a nuisance and a threat to
public health. There are no fences surrounding the
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Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 05/01/2000
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Crow Nation targets the Big Horn
Carpet Mill in Crow Agency for site assessment,
cleanup, and redevelopment.
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 8 Brownfields Team
(303) 312-7074
EPA Region 8 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region8/brownfields)
Grant Recipient: Crow Nation, Montana
(406) 638-2601
Objectives
The Crow Nation's goal is to conduct investigations and
sites assessments to determine the composition of the
contaminants on the targeted property and the extent of
their migration into the surrounding soil and
groundwater. This will allow the Nation to develop
plans for converting the property into a productive
community-based facility that would house the Crow
Vocational Technical Center and the Crow Arts and
Crafts Heritage Center, furthering education and arts
and crafts and minimizing unemployment on the
reservation.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
•	Conducting Phase I and II assessments in order to
identify all hazardous substances in the soil,
surface water, and groundwater at the Big Horn
Carpet Mill;
•	Assessing human health and environmental
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-00-088
May 00

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risks;
unsupervised in and around the building.
•	Soliciting community input and support;
•	Conducting public awareness/outreach activities;
•	Developing an effective, affordable, and
sustainable long-term remedial design, including
establishing culturally appropriate plans for
redevelopment and reuse of the Big Horn Carpet
Mill property;
•	Identifying potential funding sources; and
•	Developing estimates for cleanup costs for the
Big Horn Carpet Mill property.
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-00-088
May 00

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