s jOLI Brownfields 1997 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
•v y
New Bedford, MA
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 New Bedford as a
Brownfields Pilot. New Bedford has undergone industrial
changes over its history, beginning with the whaling
industry that later gave way to textile and apparel
manufacturing in the late 1800s. The city is working to
diversify and supplement its industrial base, which has
eroded due to the departure of manufacturing industries
and changes in federal fishing industry policies. The city
believes that the fish processing capabilities and
transportation facilities in the area provide a setting with
great potential for expansion of its aquaculture industry.
New Bedford already has begun investigating vacant and
underused industrial sites to determine their suitability
for aquaculture development.
The pilot will use the city's initial investigations to
identify candidate sites, many of which formerly housed
mill operations. Many sites may be adapted with few
modifications to the aquaculture industry. Growth of the
aquaculture business will help alleviate New Bedford's
economic and social problems.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 04/01/1997
Amount: $172,000
Profile: The pilot will target sites that formerly
supported milling or fishing operations and show
potential for use in aquaculture development.
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/brownfields)
Grant Recipient: City of New Bedford,MA
(508) 979-1466
Objectives
New Bedford's goal is to convert area brownfields into
productive aquaculture sites in accordance with existing
city plans. The pilot also will contribute to the
Commonwealth's efforts to develop the City's
aquaculture business. Pilot objectives include
developing an inventory of appropriate brownfields
sites, securing community input, identifying remediation
costs, and documenting the process to facilitate
replicability at other brownfields areas.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this pilot include:
•	Developing site selection criteria, including the
tax status of the property and the remedial work
required;
•	Evaluating potential sites for aquaculture use in
accordance with the selection criteria;
•	Conducting environmental assessments at two
sites, including drilling, field sampling, data
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-97-112
Apr 97

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analysis, and report preparation; and
• Integrating site-specific data into the city's
existing geographic information system.
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-97-112
Apr 97

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