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Brownfields 2005 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
Duluth, MN
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 City of Duluth was selected to receive two
brownfields assessment grants. The target areas are the
central commercial corridor and the western portion of
Duluth (population 86,918). Historically, the city's
economic base was shipping and heavy manufacturing,
with the core located in the target areas. A major
portion of these industries left the city in the 1970s and
1980s, emptying the target areas of businesses and jobs.
While some portions of the city have experienced
economic growth and revitalization over the past two
decades, the target areas have been largely bypassed.
The population of these areas has a higher percentage of
minorities, including Native Americans, than the rest of
the city, and 19.2 percent of the population lives below
the poverty level. In addition, this area is home to many
of the city's brownfields. It includes former shipping
slips, active manufacturing plants, active and vacant
commercial properties, scrap yards, grain mills, lumber
yards, warehouses, and railroad yards. Brownfields
redevelopment will increase employment and tax
revenues, re-establish economic activity, provide
affordable housing and commercial activity, and
recapture the aesthetic and recreational value of
Duluth's waterfront.
Assessment Grant
$200,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Duluth for two
brownfields assessment grants. Hazardous
substances and petroleum grant funds will be used to
conduct assessments in the western portion of the
city and the central commercial corridor. Grant
funds will be used to support community
involvement activities, inventory and prioritize sites,
conduct four to eight Phase I site assessments and
three to five Phase II site assessments, and develop
two or three cleanup plans for high-priority sites.
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 5 Brownfields Team
(312)886-7576
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
(http: //www. epa.gov/R5 Brownfields)
Grant Recipient: City of Duluth, Minnesota
(218) 730-5580
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
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 560-F-05-102
May 05

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