w5 Brownfields 1998 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet Burlington, NC 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 Burlington for a Brownfields Pilot. The City (population 42,365) is located in the Piedmont Crescent region of North Carolina, between Charlotte and Research Triangle. The majority of the City's African-American, elderly and low-income population resides in east Burlington, an area comprising 1.5 square miles. Once a bustling textile center, east Burlington has experienced a decline in businesses and employment opportunities as the local economy shifted, leading to rapid development of greenfields in the City's western area. For nearly a century, Burlington served as a textile center, but in recent years its economy shifted and the City is now home to many medical and high-tech businesses. Until the 1980s, Burlington's major manufacturing facilities were located in east Burlington. In the last decade, however, much of the industrial and commercial development in the City has shifted to the south and west, close to the interstate. The closures and downsizing of several textile mills have limited the employment opportunities for east Burlington's residents. While overall the City of Burlington experiences a good quality of life and prosperous business climate, neighborhoods in east Burlington continue to experience economic decline and are threatened with the onset of blight. Approximately 22% Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 07/01/1998 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot targets the 1.5-square-mile east Burlington area. 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: Burlington, NC (336)222-5110 Objectives Burlington's primary objective is to establish a proactive, broad-based redevelopment model and plan that will lead to the cleanup, reuse and development of brownfields sites in the community. The Pilot plans to use community steering committees, site assessments, and the creation of an information clearinghouse/database as key factors to achieve its objective. Activities Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments of all potentially contaminated property in east Burlington; • Instituting a community outreach program; • Creating a steering committee to utilize citizen involvement and collaborative problem- solving; and • Developing an inventory and information database system to help facilitate environmental cleanup, economic planning, and redevelopment. United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-98-194 Jul 98 ------- of the land and buildings in east Burlington are vacant; many of them are suspected or perceived to be environmentally contaminated. 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 500-F-98-194 _ . . and Emergency . . Protection Agency Response (5105*0 Jul 98 Washington, DC 20450 ^ v ' ------- |