Brownfields 2005 Grant Fact Sheet

Brewer, ME

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.

ASSESSMENT GRANT

$350,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the City of Brewer for a brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be used to conduct additional Phase II subsurface investigations at the abandoned Eastern Fine Paper Mill site in South Brewer, remedial action and reuse planning, and community outreach activities.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Brewer was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. The bankruptcy of the city's largest taxpayer and employer, a paper manufacturing business that closed in January 2004 after almost a century of operations, has placed significant pressures on the entire community of Brewer (population 8,951). In 2000, the median household income of residents in the target area around the abandoned mill in South Brewer was already significantly below the state average. The ramifications of the mill closure include increased joblessness, lowering of the tax base, increased tax burdens, reduction in city programs, and an 18 percent poverty rate. The city hopes to clean up the former mill site as a waterfront park, public courtyards, and greenspace. Redevelopment also will serve as a catalyst to reverse the slum and blight of the area, reduce the risk of hazardous contaminants, and diminish the stigma that has impacted property values.

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 1 Brownfields Team
617-918-1221
http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/

Grant Recipient: City of Brewer, ME
207-989-7500

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