w5 Brownfields 2001 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet St. Louis, Ml 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 St. Louis for a Brownfields Assessment Pilot. St. Louis (population 4,309) is located in the geographic center of Michigan. The area's overall population growth in the last 20 years has been less than 5 percent, and 21 percent of the city's residents live at or below the poverty level. Median household income in St. Louis is 37 percent below the state average. The city has experienced a decline in commercial and industrial investment in the last 15 years, and has a reputation for being polluted and unsightly due to the presence of the Velsicol Chemical Co. Superfund site. The industrial corridor along the Pine River in the southern part of town is one of the oldest and most blighted areas in the city. The city has identified between 35 and 40 potential brownfields properties that could be readily developed if a cohesive strategy were developed and implemented to move toward sustainable development. The target properties for this Pilot project would focus on commercial or industrial sites that may be owned by private parties or owned by the city or state through tax reversion. Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 04/01/2001 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot will identify, prioritize, and assess 35 to 40 brownfield sites along the blighted industrial corridor in the southern part of St. Louis. 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 5 Brownfields Team (312)886-7576 EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields) Grant Recipient: City of St. Louis,MI (517) 681-4621 Objectives The objective of this Pilot is to cleanup, redevelop, and sustainably reuse brownfields properties in the City of St. Louis. Through a community-based process, the Pilot plans to complete an inventory of brownfields properties using inventorying methods developed by other Michigan Pilot projects. An extensive community-based involvement process will be woven throughout this Pilot which will involve the community in Pilot activities and offer seminars to developers and other interested parties. The majority of funds will be used to perform Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments on high priority sites. Activities Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Initiating an inventory and prioritization system; • Prioritizing sites that have the highest economic and social value for redevelopment; United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-01-275 Apr 01 ------- • Completing Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments on the highest priority brownfields; and • Presenting informational sessions targeting the community, developers, bankers, and real estate personnel. 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 Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 and Emergency Response (5105T) Solid Waste EPA 500-F-01-275 Apr 01 ------- |