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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

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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 '

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