§ JQl\ Brownfields 1996 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
IWi	Lima, OH
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 selected the City of Lima for a Brownfields Pilot.
The project area includes an abandoned industrial site
that is part of a planned 200-acre industrial park. Lima
has been hard-hit by industrial closings and
defense-downsizing in the 1970s and 1980s, employment
in the industrial park has decreased from 8,800 to 550.
Other brownfields impacts include a loss of supportive
services to nearby residences, systematic institutional
disinvestment (lenders, small businesses), increases in
vacancy rates, and increased crime.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 09/01/1996
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets the Lima Locomotive
works, an abandoned 65-acre industrial facility. The
abandoned facility is part of a planned 200-acre
industrial park.
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/R5Brownfields)
Grant Recipient: Lima, OH
(419) 228-5462
Objectives
Lima's brownfields effort is aimed at transforming the
industrial park into a thriving, modernized industrial
community that will provide new job potential. The
focus of the Pilot is on the former Lima Locomotive
works, an abandoned 65-acre industrial facility. The
City views successful redevelopment of this site as key
to their broader redevelopment efforts.
Activities
The Pilot is:
•	Conducting Phase I site assessments and
planning at the former Lima Locomotive facility;
•	Conducting a brownfields blight survey within
the City to identify other potential properties for
redevelopment;
•	Implementing outreach activities in the
community to provide information on site
assessment and gain community input on
United States	c
Environmental	anri Fmpflpn™	EPA 500-F-97-020
nil- a	ancl Emergency	..
Protection Agency	Response (5105T)	MaV97
Washington, DC 20450	^ v '

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planning for the industrial park;
•	Establishing an independent management board,
including community representatives to oversee
industrial park revitalization; and
•	Crafting legal agreements delineating partnership
terms and financial arrangements for the
assessment, remediation, and development of the
industrial park.
Experience with the Lima Pilot has been a catalyst for
related activities including the following.
•	Working with a local university to study the
effectiveness of phyto-remediation, the use of
trees and shrubs to reduce concentrations of
contaminants in soil.
•	Working with the Governor's Economic
Development Office to enhance job creation with
tax incentives.
•	Working with Ohio State agencies that offer
economic development assistance to
municipalities engaged in redevelopment
activities.
•	Requiring industrial park lease terms to
encourage the hiring of local residents.
•	Negotiation of an agreement with the facility
property owner for entry of the facility into the
Ohio voluntary cleanup program.
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-97-020
May 97

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