Brownfields 2005 Grant Fact Sheet

Lake County, OR

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 petroleum
EPA has selected Lake County for a brownfields cleanup grant. Grant funds will be used to conduct community outreach activities and remediate petroleum contamination at the Ole Turnbow Exxon site in Christmas Valley, Oregon. Soil and groundwater at the site have been impacted by gasoline and diesel petroleum products and their constituents as a result of releases from underground storage tanks and pipes.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

Lake County was selected to receive a brownfields cleanup grant. Lake County (population 7,400), located in south central Oregon, is considered an economically distressed area by the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department. More than 13 percent of two parent families, 43.5 percent of female-headed families, and 16.1 percent of individuals living alone are below the poverty level. Unemployment in the county exceeds both state and national levels. Christmas Valley, the location of the target site, is an unincorporated community in northern Lake County, more than 100 miles from the nearest city of size. Because of its remote and central location, many pilots from the area practice touch-and-goes at the Christmas Valley Airport. But, because the airport lacks refueling capabilities, planes rarely land there. Cleanup of the Ole Turnbow Exxon site will reduce the health threats to the community and allow the county to redevelop the property as a self service airplane refueling facility to serve the adjacent airport. This will encourage pilots to land in Christmas Valley and take advantage of community services. In addition, refueling capabilities will benefit local ranchers and farmers who fly in and out of the valley, visitors who come for recreation, and those who may need emergency landing services or regular refueling for fighting forest fires in the area.

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: Lake County, OR
541-947-6003

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