Brownfields 2006 Grant Fact Sheet

Alpena, MI

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders 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 Alpena for two brownfields assessment grants. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to conduct community outreach, inventory and prioritize sites, perform up to 20 Phase I and ten Phase II environmental site assessments, and develop baseline environmental assessments and redevelopment plans for selected sites around the city. Petroleum grant funds will be used for the same tasks at petroleum sites.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Alpena was selected to receive two brownfields assessment grants. Located in northeast Michigan, where the Thunder River discharges to Thunder Bay, Alpena (population 11,304) has been a center for the lumber industry since its first pulp and paper mills were built in the late 19th Century. The city's waterfront gave the industry easy access to shipping and water for processing. It served as a draw for other industries, including cement and gypsum producers, to locate there. While industrial activities still exist at the waterfront, many operations have closed over the past 25 years, leaving behind vacant and abandoned properties. A search of state and federal sources has identified 78 known contaminated sites in Alpena. The city and surrounding county have not experienced the population growth or relative economic prosperity of other northern Michigan communities. Since 1990, the city has lost over two percent of its population, and the median household income is only 68 percent of the state median. The brownfields and other industrial sites along the waterfront are impediments to the city's plan to develop a mixed-use, walkable, vibrant downtown with a strong linkage to the waterfront. Assessment and eventual cleanup of these brownfields properties will enable Alpena to continue its efforts to convert a brownfields area into a tourist destination with recreational and retail space that will create jobs for area 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 5 Brownfields Team
312-886-7576
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/

Grant Recipient: City of Alpena, MI
989-354-1700

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