Brownfields 2005 Grant Fact Sheet

Baltimore National Aquarium, MD

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic development 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.

CLEANUP GRANT

$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the Baltimore National Aquarium for a brownfields cleanup grant. Grant funds will be used to clean up hazardous substances contamination at an 11-acre property, including the Baltimore Department of Public Works Central Maintenance Garage. Funds also will be used to remove above ground and underground storage tanks, cap with soil, and conduct community outreach activities.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Baltimore National Aquarium was selected to receive a brownfields cleanup grant. The target site is along the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River, in a predominantly industrial area of Baltimore (population 651,154). Neighboring residential communities to the north and south of the site are low-income. For example, the Cherry Hill community, across the river from the site, is 98 percent minority, with an unemployment rate over 18 percent, and a median household income 58 percent of that of the city. Cleanup of the 143,000-square-foot Central Maintenance Garage and the property around it will support the first phase of development for the aquarium's Center for Aquatic Life and Conservation, a state-of-the-art animal care and conservation education center. As a research and training institution, it is likely to attract visitors and scientists to Baltimore and the Middle Branch region. Strong community-based conservation education programs will serve Baltimore City schoolchildren and residents. New jobs will be created for local residents, and tax revenues will be generated for the city. The second phase of development will include wetlands restoration, creation of a public-access waterfront trail, and the construction of additional education and research facilities.

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 at: www.epa.gov/brownfields.

EPA Region 3 Brownfields Team
215-814-3129
http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bfs/index.htm

Grant Recipient: National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD
410-659-4277

The cooperative agreement for this grant has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.