Brownfields 2005 Grant Fact Sheet

Riverside Center for Innovation, Allegheny County, PA

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 Riverside Center for Innovation for two brownfields assessment grants. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to solicit community input, develop an inventory of sites, conduct approximately six Phase I and three Phase II site assessments, and develop cleanup plans for selected sites within seven communities along the lower Allegheny River Valley. Petroleum funds will be used to perform the same tasks at petroleum-contaminated sites.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Riverside Center for Innovation was selected to receive two brownfields assessment grants. The Center represents seven Allegheny River Valley communities (total population 54,669), collectively known as the Allegheny River Towns Enterprise Zone (ARTEZ). This zone consists of approximately 930 acres of land along the north bank of the river about 12 miles from Pittsburgh. The access to waterways, the proximity to the region's other industries, and the rich natural resources of this Western Pennsylvania region made the steel manufacturing ARTEZ region an industrial powerhouse. The end of the industrial age left these communities saddled with dwindling and underemployed populations, and polluted, unusable lands. Since 1970, four of the seven towns have lost 35 percent of their residents. Between 1990 and 2000, Allegheny County lost over 15 percent of its manufacturing jobs, and lower-paying service jobs have been replacing higher-wage manufacturing ones. Assessment of brownfields will help the ARTEZ communities mitigate the human health and environmental threats posed by these sites, particularly to the more vulnerable populations. Brownfields redevelopment will add light industrial, retail, office, residential, and recreation space to the region, and help the towns maintain their history and vitality.

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 3 Brownfields Team
215-814-3129
http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bfs/index.htm

Grant Recipient: Riverside Center for Innovation, PA
412-322-3523

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