w5 PRO"1"4' Brownfields 1997 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet Panhandle Health District, ID 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 Region 10 selected Silver Valley, Idaho for a Regional Brownfields Pilot. The Silver Valley was home to one of the largest mining operations in the country before the smelters closed in 1981. The Silver Valley area includes one of the largest Superfund sites in the nation. The towns of Kellogg, Pinehurst, Smelterville, and Wardner, which together have a population of 7,550, are within the boundary of the 21 square mile Bunker Hill Superfund site. Heavy metals contamination is widespread in soils, streams, and groundwater. Past emissions have severely harmed vegetation, and mill tailings have kept much of the slopes and valley floor defoliated. Contamination concerns and mine layoffs have negatively affected property values and the employment rate in the Valley, although both appear to have stabilized and have shown promising improvements. The $210 million cleanup of the site is underway and progressing. This brownfields cooperative agreement will assist the entire Silver Valley in overcoming the environmental stigma associated with redevelopment of the area. Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 09/01/1996 Amount: $98,000 Profile: The Pilot targets a 21-square mile site encompassing a former mine, where contamination from heavy metals is present in soil, streams, and groundwater. 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 10 Brownfields Team (206)553-7299 EPA Region 10 Brownfields Web site (http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/ sites/bf) Grant Recipient: Panhandle Health District, ID (208)783-0707 Objectives The focus of the Panhandle Health District's brownfields' effort is to plan for and assist in supporting new business in the Valley. Economic development planning has been stymied by industry misconceptions, ignorance of environmental law, and fear of liability. Even after Federal cleanup, economic rebirth will not occur until the stigma of environmental contamination is removed. The governments of the four towns affected by the Superfund site as well as other towns in the Valley will be cooperating with the county, regional health authority, and local, State, and Federal economic development agencies to address the Valley's problems and demonstrate the merits and viability of new business growth in the area. Activities The Pilot is: United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-97-062 May 97 ------- • Preparing a business development guide that provides direction and support for the appropriate redevelopment of affected brownfields property in the Silver Valley; • Producing a video educating viewers about brownfields issues and on the advantages of establishing a business in Silver Valley; • Developing a Web Page about the Silver Valley Pilot for the Internet; and • Conducting an economic summit conference to show how liability and contamination are no longer major barriers to redevelopment of the area. The conference will target private enterprise, lending institutions, regional and State government, economic development organizations, and business recruiters and brokers. Experience with the Panhandle Health District Pilot has been a catalyst for related activities including the following. • The Washington Water Power Company spent $60,000 to advertise and promote local, underutilized industrial sites. Washington Water Power plans to bring new jobs to redeveloped Silver Valley brownfields sites. 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-97-062 May 97 ------- |