Brownfields 2005 Grant Fact Sheet

Clarksville, TN

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

$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Clarksville for a brownfields assessment grant. Petroleum grant funds will be used to develop an inventory of sites in a 130-acre area in the industrial district of the central city, conduct Phase I and II site assessments, and develop cleanup plans. Funds also will be used to conduct community outreach activities.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Clarksville was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. The city (population 103,455) is located at the confluence of the Red and Cumberland Rivers in north central Tennessee. Founded in 1784, it became a shipping, agricultural, and industrial center. Over time, city development and residences spread outward, leaving the old commercial/industrial district of the central city with run-down properties that were potentially contaminated with hazardous substances from the past. Industrial uses in this 130-acre target area have included a foundry, tire manufacturing plant, salvage yards, and a petroleum tank farm. Bordering the area is one of the city's older residential areas, where 50 percent of families with children live in poverty, and unemployment is as high as 15 percent. The target area is in the center of a 1,350-acre redevelopment area planned by the city. Brownfields redevelopment will revitalize these neighborhoods, bring affordable housing to the area, create jobs, enhance the tax base, remove blight, and improve the standard of living for city residents.

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 4 Brownfields Team
404-562-8684
http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/index.htm

Grant Recipient: City of Clarksville, TN
931-221-0754

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