Brownfields 2005 Grant Fact Sheet

King County, WA

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 King County for two brownfields assessment grants. Hazardous substances and petroleum grant funds will be used to support community outreach activities, conduct initial assessments, and perform Phase I and II environmental site assessments for properties around the county, with an emphasis on the county's three Manufacturing and Industrial Centers (MICs).

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

King County was selected to receive two brownfields assessment grants. King County (population 1,788,300) and the City of Seattle are a joint Brownfields Showcase Community. King County will focus assessment efforts on its three Manufacturing and Industrial Centers (MICs), where surrounding neighborhoods include significant numbers of disadvantaged residents. For example, the South Park, Georgetown, and Allentown neighborhoods, located in and around the Duwamish Tukwila MIC, are 50 percent minority, and 12.5 percent of area residents live below the poverty line. The median household income is 75 percent of the city median. As of September 2004, there were 780 sites in the county listed on the state's Confirmed and Suspected Contaminated Sites list. The majority of these sites are small and concentrated in the MICs. Many are situated in close proximity to residential neighborhoods and offer the potential for redevelopment. Assessment of brownfields will help the county identify and reduce threats to the health and welfare of these communities. Eventual cleanup and redevelopment will help prevent future brownfields and promote economic benefits for county 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 10 Brownfields Team
206-553-2100
http://www.epa.gov/r10earth, click on "Superfund", scroll down and click on "Brownfields"

Grant Recipient: King County, WA
206-296-8476

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