s OA Brownfields 1999 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet r-t> / Naco Fire District, Arizona 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 Naco Fire District supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot. Naco is located on the Mexican border and is an unincorporated town of about 750 people, 90 percent of whom are Hispanic. The unemployment rate is more than triple that of the surrounding county. Historically, Naco was a cattle processing center. Although cattle dipping occurred on the Mexican side of the border, a suspected source of environmental concern is the pesticide residues from cattle operations on the U.S. side. Another likely source of pollution has been the frequent flooding of household and industrial waste from a defective waste treatment plant across the border. The perception of a disproportionately high burden of potential environmental hazards has reduced Naco's quality of life relative to other border communities. The original Pilot completed Phase I and II environmental assessments on a 2.5-acre parcel of an agribusiness site and an adjoining property contaminated by flood waters and an abandoned cattle processing area. Supplemental funds will be used to define possible environmental contamination and conduct cleanup planning at the site of Naco's new middle school that may have copper mine tailings on site, a new business area that will be near a new railroad and pedestrian border Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 05/01/2002 Amount: $150,000 Profile: The Pilot targets three potentially contaminated sites in east Naco that are needed for a school, border crossing, and shops in a community with high unemployment. 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 9 Brownfields Team (415)972-3091 EPA Region 9 Brownfields Web site (http ://www .epa.gov/region9/brownfields) Grant Recipient: Naco Fire District, Arizona (520)432-7040 Objectives The supplemental assistance will be used to assess environmental conditions at three sites designated for reuse as public facilities, including a school, new border crossing facility for foot traffic, shops and transportation service facilities, and expanded recreational areas. The Pilot areas are near or adjacent to the original Pilot site in east Naco. Involvement of community and citizens groups, county authorities, and Arizona State University are expected to continue through the supplemental grant period. Activities Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Conducting Phase I and II environmental assessments at three potentially contaminated sites in east Naco; and • Conducting public outreach and involvement to United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-02-112 May 02 ------- crossing that is downgrade of former cattle operations, and a truck stop on the northern edge of the original Pilot site. With international assistance, Mexico has built a modern industrial wastewater treatment facility that should prevent future spills on the U.S. side of the border. ensure participation in the cleanup and redevelopment process. 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-02-112 j. j.- a ancl Emergency .. __ Protection Agency Response (5105T) MaV02 Washington, DC 20450 ^ v ' ------- w5 Brownfields 1999 Supplemental Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet Naco, AZ 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 Naco Fire District for a Brownfields Pilot. Naco (population 748) is a rural, unincorporated town in Cochise County. The town is 80 percent Hispanic with a 28 percent unemployment rate. Naco, Arizona is directly across the border from Naco, Sonora-Mexico, and the two cities have worked together on regional issues over the years and are recognized as a model for cross-border cooperation. The Pilot targets 260 acres directly across the border from Naco, Sonora-Mexico. From the 1930s until the 1980s, the area was a major agribusiness route for the processing and shipping of cattle between Mexico and the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture required that all cattle coming into the United States be treated with pesticides, such as DDT, chlordane, and heptachlor. Thus the site contains former cattle dip vats contaminated with pesticides, as well as a large number of dead animals, trash, and other buried waste. In addition, as the Mexican city of Naco grew, its waste treatment plant did not, and became overburdened and unable to handle the high volume of raw sewage and industrial waste water. Frequent breakdowns resulted in overflows of the system, which poured sewage over the border onto the U.S. crossing site. Since the border crossing closed in the late 1980s, these spills have Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 06/21/1999 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot targets 260 acres along the U.S. border with Mexico, formerly used as a major agribusiness cattle crossing facility. 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 9 Brownfields Team (415)972-3091 EPA Region 9 Brownfields Web site (http ://www .epa.gov/region9/brownfields) Grant Recipient: Naco Fire District, Arizona (520)432-7040 i c A t- t Objectives The Pilot seeks to facilitate cleanup of the targeted areas so that potential risks are removed and the properties can be transformed into productive use. Through cooperation from the communities, cities, counties, and emergency response teams on both sides of the border, Naco, Sonora has received funding to build a new treatment plant scheduled for completion in late 1999. Eliminating the threat of flooding opens up the U.S. border-crossing brownfields site to redevelopment opportunities. Local stakeholders, such as county authorities, community members, non-governmental organizations, and citizen groups have identified the environmental assessment of the site as the first step in the area's overall redevelopment process. Initial redevelopment plans include retail shops and restaurants incorporated in at least one shopping center, and light industrial facilities. The Pilot will initiate the revitalization efforts by assessing the environmental contamination from the site's former cattle pens and agribusiness activity United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-99-160 Jun 99 ------- uv»>vuiiiv»> uiv main auuiwt ui punuuun in i>iatu, .rvuz^uiia. The exact nature and extent of the contamination from the dip vats and the waste treatment plant at the brownfields site is unknown. Activities Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Performing Phase I and II assessments at the 260-acre site on the U.S. side of the border; • Creating a cleanup and redevelopment plan for the area; and • Conducting community involvement activities. 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-99-160 _ . . and Emergency . Protection Agency Response (5105T) Jun 99 Washington, DC 20450 ^ v ' ------- |