w5 Brownfields 2000 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet Concord, NC 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 Concord for a Brownfields Pilot. Concord was also selected to receive additional funding for assessments at Brownfields properties to be used for greenspace purposes. Concord (population 27,347) is a rapidly growing and economically diverse piedmont community. Historically, North Carolina piedmont communities were home to numerous textile manufacturing facilities and mills; however, these once prosperous mills have become dilapidated reminders of bygone days and have hindered development within the center city area of Concord (population 14,783) and led to urban sprawl. Urban sprawl has consequently resulted in higher infrastructure costs, greater traffic congestion, higher unemployment (5.6 percent) and a greater poverty rate (17.5 percent) in the center city, and decreased housing opportunities for lower-income residents. Fear and ignorance of contaminants and cleanup costs have prevented brownfields within the city from being redeveloped. Concord will target city-owned sites-Gibson Village, North Village, and Memorial Farmers Market-for cleanup and reuse. Gibson Village, an urban neighborhood, has a heavy concentration of mills, coal yards, and other potential brownfields sites. Also located within Gibson Village is a city-owned electrical warehouse property that will be targeted as part Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 05/01/2000 Amount: $200,000 $50,000 for Greenspace Profile: The City of Concord targets three sites-Gibson Village, North Village, Memorial Farmers Market- and a fourth site located within Gibson Village, the former electrical warehouse, for greenway development. 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 4 Brownfields Team (404) 562-8792 EPA Region 4 Brownfields Web site (http ://www .epa.gov/region4/waste/bf) Grant Recipient: City of Concord, North Carolina (704) 789-2502 Objectives The aim of the city is to create and demonstrate a successful brownfields program using city-owned property, serving as a model for cleanup and redevelopment and encouraging private property owners to enroll their property into the brownfields program. After the Pilot-funded assessments and cleanup planning, the city plans to clean up and redevelop the Gibson Village site into a community park and greenway link, the abandoned National Guard Armory motor park into an 18-unit neo-traditional affordable subdivision, and the abandoned city maintenance facility into a market that sells produce and gardening supplies. The city will use the greenspace funding for assessment and planning at the city-owned electrical warehouse property, which is bordered by a creek and located in Gibson Village. These efforts will complement the city's United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-00-086 May 00 ------- of the city's greenspace development plan. North Village is an abandoned National Guard Armory motor park. Memorial Farmers Market is an abandoned city maintenance facility that is adjacent to an area marked by an overwhelming minority presence and high unemployment. planned greenway project, as many of the planned greenways cut through the targeted communities. Activities Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Assessing and characterizing three city-owned brownfields; • Creating a thorough and organized community involvement program; • Involving private land owners and developing public-private partnerships to enroll private property into the brownfields program; • Providing cleanup and reuse planning for the targeted sites, including identifying strategies for providing liability protection to aid in redevelopment; and • Conducting assessment and cleanup planning at the former electrical warehouse to facilitate creating and protecting greenspace. 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-00-086 j. j.- a ancl Emergency .. __ Protection Agency Response (5105T) MaV00 Washington, DC 20450 ^ v ' ------- |