w5 Brownfields 1998 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet Escambia County, FL 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 Escambia County for a Brownfields Pilot. Located in the northwestern part of the State, Escambia County has a geographical area of 661 square miles. Palafox Corridor, the gateway to the City of Pensacola (population 4,401), is the targeted Pilot community. The area is characterized by old houses, solid waste transfer stations, and a multitude of unused railroad spurs. Twenty-seven percent of the City's residents earn less than $10,000, and 5% of the community is unemployed. The Pensacola area economy depends on military installations, industry, shipping, tourism, agriculture, health care services, and retail trade. The City has suffered economically from industrial and military reshuffling. Several key employers have laid off workers, and the Department of Defense moved its helicopter repair facility elsewhere. According to a U.S. Navy study, that closure alone is estimated to impact 5,450 jobs and produce a total economic loss of approximately $300 million annually. Although much of Pensacola is undergoing revitalization, the Pilot area remains a bottleneck. The combination of low-income employment, lay-offs in older, more established industries, and former industrial contamination has set the stage for much needed economic, environmental, and rf=*Hf=n/f=0rvrvmf=*n+ in Pf=»nccir»r\1ci Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 07/15/1998 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot targets the Palafox Corridor for cleanup and redevelopment into a commercial, light industrial, and/or commerce center surrounded by improved residential neighborhoods. 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 4 Brownfields Team (404) 562-8792 EPA Region 4 Brownfields Web site (http ://www .epa.gov/region4/waste/bf) Grant Recipient: Escambia County,FL (850)595-3496 Objectives Escambia County's long-term objective is to redevelop the Palafox Corridor into a commercial, light industrial, and/or commerce center surrounded by improved residential neighborhoods. As part of this objective, the Pilot will address environmental issues and barriers in order to enhance and encourage redevelopment through site assessments, community involvement, and development of reuse options. Activities Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Creating a Geographic Information System (GIS) database outlining property ownership and environmental assessment status; • Conducting Phase I and II environmental site assessments; • Encouraging community involvement by establishing a committee-type forum to discuss United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-98-191 Jul 98 ------- assessments, cleanup technology, and redevelopment issues; and • Utilizing and expanding the existing Pensacola Brownfields Committee by establishing a subcommittee to focus on the redevelopment of the Palafox Corridor. 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-98-191 Jul 98 ------- /r^. Brownfields 1998 Supplemental Assessment } Pilot Fact Sheet Escambia County, Florida Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 05/01/2002 Amount: $150,000 Profile: Escambia County, Florida. The Pilot will target three additional sites within the Palafox Corridor Brownfield Redevelopment Area, which has suffered economically from industrial and military reshuffling. 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 4 Brownfields Team (404) 562-8792 EPA Region 4 Brownfields Web site (http ://www .epa.gov/region4/waste/bf) Grant Recipient: Escambia County,FL (850)595-3496 Objectives 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 Escambia County supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot. Located in the far western corner of Florida's panhandle, Escambia County has a geographical area of 661 square miles. Palafox Corridor, the gateway to the City of Pensacola (population 4,400), is the targeted Pilot community. The area is characterized by old houses, solid waste transfer stations, and unused railroad spurs. The city's economy, which is dependant on business generated from military installations, has suffered economically from industrial and military reshuffling. Twenty-seven percent of the city's residents have annual incomes of less than $10,000. The combination of low-income employment, lay-offs in older industries, and contamination at former industrial sites has set the stage for much needed economic, environmental, and social redevelopment in Pensacola. The Palafox Corridor Brownfield Redevelopment Area encompasses approximately 427 properties and includes 228 vacant acres. The boundaries of the Corridor were expanded in 2001 to include the sites of the former Town and County shopping mall and the former Builder's Square building supply company. The county's long-term goal is to redevelop the Palafox Corridor into a commercial, light industrial, or eco-commercial center. The Pilot will use the supplemental assistance to continue to address environmental issues by conducting additional assessments in the brownfield area and encouraging reinvestment and redevelopment. The original EPA Pilot completed assessments at five sites in the target area. The county will use the supplemental funds to conduct Phase I and Phase II site assessments on the Town and County shopping mall and the Builder's Square building. A seven-acre, former auto junkyard also is targeted for assessment and redevelopment as a transit facility. Another major goal of the supplemental project will be to encourage redevelopment and reinvestment by increasing awareness of the program in Escambia County. Activities Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) ------- • Identifying and prioritizing additional sites for assessment; • Developing site-specific quality assurance plans; • Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments on three sites; • Increasing awareness of the county's brownfields program through outreach and community involvement activities; and • Evaluating site cleanup and reuse options and exploring models for redevelopment. 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 ------- /r^. Brownfields 1998 Supplemental Assessment } Pilot Fact Sheet Escambia County, FL 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 Escambia County, Florida supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot. Located in the northwestern part of the state, Escambia County has a geographical area of 661 square miles. Palafox Corridor, the gateway to the City of Pensacola (population 4,401), is the targeted Pilot community. The Palafox Corridor Brownfield Redevelopment Area has approximately 400 properties and 228 vacant acres within its boundaries. The Palafox Corridor is characterized by old houses, solid waste transfer stations, and a multitude of unused railroad spurs. Twenty-seven percent of the city's residents earn less than $10,000, and approximately 5 percent of the community is unemployed. The Pensacola area economy depends on military installations, industry, shipping, tourism, agriculture, health care services, and retail trade. The city has suffered economically from industrial and military reshuffling. The combination of low-income employment, lay-offs in older, more established industries, and former industrial contamination has set the stage for much needed economic, environmental, and social redevelopment in Pensacola. Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 03/01/2001 Amount: $100,000 Profile: Escambia County, FL. The Pilot will continue to target sites within the Palafox Corridor Brownfield Redevelopment Area by conducting additional assessments to encourage redevelopment and reinvestment. 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 4 Brownfields Team (404) 562-8792 EPA Region 4 Brownfields Web site (http ://www .epa.gov/region4/waste/bf) Grant Recipient: Escambia County,FL (850)595-3496 Objectives The Pilot will use the supplemental assistance to continue to address environmental issues and barriers by providing additional assessments in the brownfield area and encouraging reinvestment and redevelopment. The Pilot has been focusing on two properties in the target area; however, the supplemental assistance will enable the Pilot to address additional properties. The long-term goal is to redevelop the Palafox Corridor into a commercial, light industrial, and/or eco-commerce center. One site that is being targeted using supplemental assistance is a seven-acre site that was formerly an auto junk yard and is being considered as a site for a transit-oriented development project and office space. To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to: • Identify property owners in the Palafox Corridor Brownfield Redevelopment Area and prioritize United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) ------- sites for redevelopment; • Conduct environmental assessments on selected sites; • Develop a market study of the target area, including job training assessment; • Evaluate site cleanup and reuse options and explore models for redevelopment; 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 ------- |