Brownfields 2005 Grant Fact Sheet

New Haven, CT

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 hazardous substances
EPA has selected the City of New Haven for a brownfields cleanup grant. Grant funds will be used to conduct community outreach activities, and remove and dispose of soils contaminated with tetrachloroethylene and petroleum at the Brewery Building on Grand Avenue. The facility, which dates back to the late 1800s, has been used by railroad companies, a smelting operation, the state power company, and a brewery.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of New Haven was selected to receive a brownfields cleanup grant. The city, with a population of 128,000, is a federally designated Empowerment Zone. The cleanup site, the Brewery Building, is an architecturally significant property which serves as a gateway from the city's central business district to the Fair Haven neighborhood. The neighborhood, located at the confluence of two rivers, has been a center of industry since the early 19th Century. As industries closed or moved away, they left behind abandoned and underutilized structures in the midst of residential neighborhoods, exacerbating unemployment and contributing to the high poverty level in the area. Today, the poverty rate in Fair Haven is 31 percent, 79 percent of residents are minorities, and less than five percent of residents have a college degree. Cleanup of the Brewery Building will help reduce the threat to human health posed by the contamination at the site. Redevelopment plans include renovating the entire space for reuse as a home design center. The owner expects to occupy two-thirds of the property for retail use, employing 60 people, and attract other related service providers to locate in the building. This project is expected to bring much-needed jobs, training, and a shopping outlet within walking distance for neighborhood 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 1 Brownfields Team
617-918-1221
http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/

Grant Recipient: City of New Haven, CT
203-946-5889

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