Brownfields 2006 Grant Fact Sheet

North Star Center for Human Development, Hartford, CT

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.

CLEANUP GRANT

$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the North Star Center for Human Development for a brownfields cleanup grant. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to clean up the Hartford Car Wash site at 2434 to 2470 Main Street, where soils are contaminated with chlorinated volatile organic compounds and metals. Various businesses operated at the site, including an auto repair facility, a car wash, an auto body shop, a metal finishing operation, and a bottling facility. Grant funds also will be used for groundwater monitoring and community involvement activities.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The North Star Center for Human Development was selected to receive a brownfields cleanup grant. The Center is a non-profit organization based in Hartford (population 121,500), which is among the country's eight poorest cities. After the industrial decline of the 1980s and 1990s, many buildings and sites with potential environmental hazards were abandoned. Today, one-third of all areas zoned for commercial or industrial use in the city are brownfields. The target site is in the Northeast neighborhood (population 10,951) of Hartford, where 98 percent of residents are minorities and almost 50 percent of families live below the poverty level. Fewer then 20 percent of the housing units in the Northeast neighborhood are owner-occupied, and approximately 20 percent of occupied buildings need rehabilitation and repair. After the brownfields are cleaned up, they will be used for affordable housing and a new community center. Brownfields redevelopment is expected to benefit Hartford residents by providing stable and affordable housing, providing services and activities for neighborhood youths, and reducing threats to human health and the environment.

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
617-918-1424
http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/

Grant Recipient: North Star Center for Human Development, CT
860-246-3526

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