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Brownfields 2004 Cleanup Grant Fact Sheet
Rhizome Collective, Inc., Austin, TX
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 Rhizome Collective, Inc. was selected to receive a
brownfields cleanup grant. Of Austin's 656,562
residents, 39,105 live in the area surrounding the Grove
Landfill site, which is located in East Austin and south
of the Colorado River. In 1928, the City of Austin
enacted a segregational zoning plan that relocated
industries and minority communities to the east side of
Austin. To this day, nearly 80 percent of Austin's
industrial zone is on the east side, with obvious
negative effects on environmental quality. In the target
area, 33 percent of residents live below the poverty
level, and 69 percent are minorities. The cleanup and
redevelopment of the Grove Landfill site into an
environmental education park with greenspace and
wildlife habitat will remove a neighborhood eyesore,
and enhance the surrounding community's social,
economic, and environmental well-being.
Cleanup Grant
$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected Rhizome Collective, Inc. for a
brownfields cleanup grant. The cleanup grant will be
used to clean up the 9.8-acre Grove Landfill site.
From 1967 to 1970, 3.6 acres at the site were used as
a municipal household solid waste landfill. Tests
have revealed the presence of volatile organic
compounds, semi-volatile compounds, RCRA
metals, pesticides, and herbicides at this site.
Cleanup funds will also be used for assessment, site
remediation and enhancement, and community
outreach and educational activities. This site will be
redeveloped into an environmental education park
that will complement the adjacent 363-acre Roy G.
Guerrero Colorado River 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 6 Brownfields Team
(214) 665-6780
EPA Region 6 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region6/brownfields)
Grant Recipient: Rhizome Collective, Inc.,TX
(512)385-3695
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.
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Protection Agency	Response (5105T)	Jun 04
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