W5 +> c PR0^ Brownfields 2002 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet City of Spokane, Washington 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 Spokane for a Brownfields Assessment Pilot. Spokane (population 195,629) is located in eastern Washington. Historically, the city was a booming agriculture and mining center. In the mid-1950s, light manufacturing began to dominate the city's economy. In recent years, however, a number of large businesses have left the area, leaving many potentially contaminated manufacturing facilities in the downtown, near valley, and northeastern sections of the city. Most of Spokane's inventoried brownfields are found in the downtown core along existing railroad rights-of-way that once were used for industrial purposes. Development in outlying areas has drawn industries away from the inner city, leaving many abandoned buildings, blighted neighborhoods, and untaxed properties. This Pilot will focus on the Broadway & Maple area (population 20,718) and the Hillyard/North Market Street corridor (population 14,585) in Spokane's downtown district. Preliminary investigations have uncovered metals and petroleum contamination at the Broadway & Maple site. The Hillyard/North Market corridor was an aluminum smelting and petroleum refining area. Now it is a Community Development Neighborhood designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 05/01/2002 Amount: $200,000 Profile: City of Spokane, Washington. This Pilot targets brownfields in two blighted areas of the city's downtown district for assessment. 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 10 Brownfields Team (206)553-7299 EPA Region 10 Brownfields Web site (http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/ sites/bf) Grant Recipient: City of Spokane,WA (509)625-6282 Rrvfh tnrcrf*t cit^c ;n+Vnn cm Objectives The Pilot's objective is to revitalize brownfields properties by addressing potential health risks and restoring economic vitality to areas where brownfields exist. To accomplish this objective, the city plans to identify brownfields sites, conduct assessments, and effectively involve the stakeholders, including community groups, investors, lenders, developers, and other affected parties, to address brownfields site assessment and barriers to cleanup. Activities Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Convening stakeholders in a community visioning process; • Identifying and analyzing barriers to redevelopment and devising an implementation strategy for removing the barriers and preparing brownfield sites for assessment: United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-02-074 May 02 ------- Empowerment Zone, where the median annual household income is $17,000, about half the state's average. In a one-mile radius of the Broadway & Maple site, 25 percent of the population lives in poverty and 8.5 percent are minorities. In a one-mile radius of the Hillyard/North Market Site, 20 percent of the population lives in poverty and 7 percent are minorities. • Identifying brownfields that impede development; • Finalizing a list of potential sites and exploring funding strategies for them; • Conducting environmental assessments; and • Securing cleanup funding. The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change. 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-02-074 j. j.- a ancl Emergency .. __ Protection Agency Response (5105T) MaV02 Washington, DC 20450 ^ v ' ------- |