Brownfields 2005 Grant Fact Sheet

Duluth, MN

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 GRANTS

$200,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Duluth for two brownfields assessment grants. Hazardous substances and petroleum grant funds will be used to conduct assessments in the western portion of the city and the central commercial corridor. Grant funds will be used to support community involvement activities, inventory and prioritize sites, conduct four to eight Phase I site assessments and three to five Phase II site assessments, and develop two or three cleanup plans for high-priority sites.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Duluth was selected to receive two brownfields assessment grants. The target areas are the central commercial corridor and the western portion of Duluth (population 86,918). Historically, the city's economic base was shipping and heavy manufacturing, with the core located in the target areas. A major portion of these industries left the city in the 1970s and 1980s, emptying the target areas of businesses and jobs. While some portions of the city have experienced economic growth and revitalization over the past two decades, the target areas have been largely bypassed. The population of these areas has a higher percentage of minorities, including Native Americans, than the rest of the city, and 19.2 percent of the population lives below the poverty level. In addition, this area is home to many of the city's brownfields. It includes former shipping slips, active manufacturing plants, active and vacant commercial properties, scrap yards, grain mills, lumber yards, warehouses, and railroad yards. Brownfields redevelopment will increase employment and tax revenues, re-establish economic activity, provide affordable housing and commercial activity, and recapture the aesthetic and recreational value of Duluth's waterfront.

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 5 Brownfields Team
312-886-7576
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/

Grant Recipient: City of Duluth, MN
218-730-5580

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