W5 +> cF ** PRtfl'Sr ^ Brownfields 2002 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet Borough of Ambridge, Pennsylvania 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 Borough of Ambridge for a Brownfields Assessment Pilot. The Borough of Ambridge and Harmony Township (population 11,132) are located on the eastern bank of the Ohio River in southwestern Pennsylvania, about 15 miles from downtown Pittsburgh. This historically industrial area once was home to seven major steel mills and numerous supporting industries and commercial properties. In the late 1970s, the steel mills began to close. Mill properties were sold, subdivided, and mothballed, and the number of jobs in the area plummeted from 15,000 to 1,508 today. Approximately 20 percent of borough residents live below the poverty level. While one of the area's two major industrial corridors has been successfully redeveloped, about 64 percent of the industrial land in the Borough of Ambridge and Harmony Township lies along the 2.5 mile corridor between State Route 65 and Duss Avenue, which runs through the middle of the two communities. This corridor includes a mix of active small industrial properties, idle brownfields, and underused industrial properties. The borough estimates that approximately 262 acres of the corridor may be considered brownfields. Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 05/01/2002 Amount: $200,000 Profile: Borough of Ambridge, Pennsylvania. The Pilot targets brownfields near an historic district for environmental site assessment activities that will encourage redevelopment of the district and surrounding industrial property. 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 3 Brownfields Team (215)814-3129 EPA Region 3 Brownfields Web site (http ://www .epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bf-lr) Grant Recipient: Borough of Ambridge,PA (727) 266-4070 Objectives The borough's objective is to encourage redevelopment of brownfields in an historic district that has been negatively impacted by the declining industrial economy. The Pilot will accomplish this objective by prioritizing brownfields sites for assessment and performing Phase I and II site assessments on these sites. The Pilot will also conduct community outreach using Pilot funds. The targeted brownfields are industrial sites closest to the historic district along the State Route 65/Duss Avenue corridor. Activities Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Prioritizing sites for Phase I and II environmental site assessment activities; • Conducting Phase II environmental site assessments at the highest priority sites; United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-02-039 May 02 ------- • Conducting a Phase III environmental site assessment on at least one site; and • Continuing community outreach activities by sponsoring public discussions and informal meetings. 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-02-039 May 02 ------- |