/*S\ EPA Region111
| w I Brownfields Pilot
^ PRO^°	Best Practices	//>A> Re«iofl ^
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	Region III	July 2002
What Johnstown Has to Share
Johnstown has discovered what it takes to restore its brownfields: a staff of informed,
dedicated employees to ensure projects stay on track, and cooperation among a variety of
partners to address the multiple facets of brownfields cleanup and redevelopment.
Pilot Background
The City of Johnstown, located in western Pennsylvania among scenic rivers and mountains, is
working to turn an economic decline into new opportunity. In the 1970s, two major steel
companies closed their doors, creating spiraling unemployment in the Johnstown community.
To facilitate the reuse of the properties left behind by industry, EPA awarded Johnstown a
$200,000 Brownfields Assessment Pilot grant to identify
and assess priority sites, facilitating their cleanup and
redevelopment. Under the direction of the Johnstown
Redevelopment Authority (JRA) and its partners—EPA,
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection, the Pennsylvania Department of Community
& Economic Development, the City of Johnstown, the
Greater Johnstown Regional Partnership, and Johnstown
Area Regional Industries—are working together to
address the city's brownfields issues.
Challenges Faced...
Although Johnstown has encountered numerous
obstacles on the path to brownfields revitalization, the Pilot's biggest challenge has been
convincing potential developers that brownfields redevelopment represents opportunities to
invest in viable properties, Despite the national movement to reuse brownfields, these proper-
ties can still carry a stigma in the eyes of investors and developers, who fear potential liability
and high cleanup costs. EPA's Pilot program represented an opportunity to address these
concerns by assessing properties to determine their actual level of contamination, if any, and
to work with the community to develop cleanup and reuse plans.
Project Highlight: Cambria Iron Works
This abandoned, turn of-the century mill and National Historic Landmark is being targeted for
light industrial reuse. The site will include a working blacksmith shop and historical center, and
will be part of the America's Industrial Heritage Project. The revitalization of the former iron
works facility, which has been vacant for many years, has been helped by more than $2 million
in local, state, regional, and federal funds. JRA is working the National Park Service, the U.S.
Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, the Appalachian Regional
Commission, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Preservation Heritage Commission, the Pennsylva-
nia Department of Enviornmental Protection, and the Pennsylvania Department of Community
and Economic Development on this effort, Support from the area's Congressional Represen-
tative has also been key to moving forward this project,

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...And Obstacles Overcome
The Johnstown Pilot attributes its success to a dedicated
team with the right subject-matter expertise to develop
appropriate partnerships and address stakeholders'
concerns. The Johnstown Redevelopment Authority,
which oversees the Pilot program, had operated the
city's own brownfields program since 1990, giving staff
the knowledge and experience to create a "one-stop"
operation. The Redevelopment Authority had the ca-
pacity to plan, survey, and assess sites, and to leverage
more than $5 million in EPA and other public and pri-
vate sector funds. The staff's ability to present the pos-
sibilities associated with brownfields—for instance,
emphasizing existing infrastructure and other funding available to facilitate cleanup and re-
development—and the opportunity to work with EPA in a cooperative endeavor helped as-
suage investors' and developers' concerns. Finally, Johnstown felt EPA's Brownfields Pilot award
gave its brownfields effort credibility, which is essential to building the partnerships needed to
clean up and redevelop properties. EPA has awarded Johnstown an additional $200,000 in
supplemental funding to continue JRA's cleanup and reuse efforts.
What Worked—And How It Can Work For You
JRA recommends two key elements to ensure Pilot success:
^ Make sure you have the right staff on the project. If your Pilot resides in your
local environmental agency, partner with the city's economic development
department, and vice versa, Pooling resources to ensure you have both
environmental and economic development expertise ensures you can address
stakeholders' questions and provide them with the right information. Other staff
to involve in your project might include community involvement experts or
mediators/facilitators.
^ Network, network, network. Meet with officials from local agencies and follow
up with their contacts, reach out to the state, and work with your Regional
Coordinator to leverage additional federal resources. Attend conferences, and
keep talking to people. Form partnerships in both the public and private sectors
to ensure the myriad aspects of a brownfields cleanup and redevelopment
project are addressed, and appropriate reuse is achieved,
PILOT
SNAPSHOT
Population: 23,906
Unemployment: 6.7%
Jobs Created: 103
Redevelopment Funding Leveraged: $36 million
Funding Leveraged with other Federal,
State, Local, and Private Agencies: $6 million
Contacts:

Debbie Walter
Felicia Fred
Johnstown Redevelopment Authority
U.S. EPA Region III
814,535.6564
215.814.5524
dmw@ctcnet.net

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