I JBt | Brownfields 2005 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
%	Valley Council of Governments, Naugatuck Valley, CT
EPA Brownfields Program
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.
Community Description
The Valley Council of Governments (VCOG) was
selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. VCOG
serves 25 communities representing 623,875 residents in
the Naugatuck Valley. The VCOG was once a center of
manufacturing. Today, abandoned and contaminated
brownfields properties are scattered throughout the valley.
Several downtown areas have more land in brownfields
than in productive use. A large immigrant population of
Muslim, Hispanic, and Portuguese residents occupy older
housing stock in brownfields neighborhoods in the inner
city. The minority populations in some of the VCOG
communities are as high as 39 percent. Asthma rates are
high in neighborhoods where residents are exposed to a
full range of wastes and chemicals associated with the
area's industrial activities. Assessment and cleanup of the
brownfields sites will help the municipalities address the
potential health risks and reduce the blight in
neighborhoods throughout the valley. Redevelopment of
the sites will generate tax revenues and create job
opportunities in an area that is straining to provide
services for its residents.
Assessment Grant
$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the Valley Council of
Governments for a brownfields assessment grant.
Grant funds will be used to conduct Phase I, II,
and III site assessments and develop conceptual
remedial action plans in the communities
represented by the council.
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 1 Brownfields Team
(617) 918-1424
EPA Region 1 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/regionl/bro wnfields )
Grant Recipient: Valley Council of
Governments, CT
Valley Council of Governments
(203)735-8688
Regional Brownfields Partnership of West Central
Connecticut
(203) 735-8688
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 560-F-05-070
Protection Agency	Response (5105T)	May 2005
Washington, DC 20450	Kesponse (si us )

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