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Brownfields 2015 Area-Wide Planning Grant Fact Sheet
Whitewright, 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. In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help states and
communities around the country clean up and revitalize
brownfields sites. Under this law, EPA provides financial
assistance to eligible applicants through competitive grant
programs for brownfields site assessment, site cleanup,
revolving loan funds, area-wide planning, and job training.
Additional funding support is provided to state and tribal
response programs through a separate mechanism.
Brownfields Area-Wide Planning
Program
EPA's Brownfields Area-Wide Planning
Program assists communities in responding
to local brownfields challenges,
particularly where multiple brownfield
sites are in close proximity, connected by
infrastructure, and limit the economic,
environmental and social prosperity of
their surroundings. This program enhances
EPA's core brownfields assistance
programs by providing grant funding to
communities so they can perform the
research needed to develop an area-wide
plan and implementation strategies for
brownfields assessment, cleanup, and
reuse. The resulting area-wide plans
provide direction for future brownfields
area improvements that are protective of
public health and the environment,
economically viable, and reflective of the
community's vision for the area.
Project Description
$200,000.00
EPA has selected the City of Whitewright as a
Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Grant recipient.
The city will work with the community and other
stakeholders to develop an area-wide plan and
implementation strategy for addressing numerous
sites located within the city's industrial center. The
city was founded as a railroad community, and the
downtown corridor includes numerous vacant and
blighted properties that were once connected to
active rail use. The project will examine multiple
vacant and underutilized areas for reuse potential.
It will examine impacts and opportunities relative
to the economic development of the city's
downtown area, as well as how to provide safe
pedestrian and bicycle routes. The plan will
include research into the existing conditions of the
project's catalyst sites, community input, a public
health assessment to determine any impacts these
sites may have on adjacent residential areas and
schools, reuse scenarios for the site, and
connectivity opportunities for pedestrians and
bicyclists. Once complete, this plan is expected to
inform the community about current conditions
and status of these sites; develop steps to
repurpose these sites and address environmental
health concerns; and connect parks, schools, and
neighborhoods to the city's downtown in a
meaningful and sustainable manner. The primary
partner on this project will be the Texoma Council
of Governments. Other key partners who will
work with the city on this project include the
Whitewright Independent School District, the
Whitewright Chamber of Commerce, Grayson
Community College, Austin College, the
Whitewright Economic Development Board, and
the Whitewright Community Development
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 560-F-15-015
March 2015

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Corporation.
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)665-8358
EPA Region 6 Brownfields Web site
(https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/epa-regi
on-6-south-central-brownfields)
Grant Recipient: City of Whitewright, TX
(903)364-2219
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 560-F-15-015
March 2015

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