Brownfields 2006 Grant Fact Sheet

Public Health - Seattle & King County, WA

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 GRANT

$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected Public Health - Seattle & King County (PHSKC) for a brownfields assessment grant. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to conduct community-wide assessments of contaminated methamphetamine drug lab sites. Grant funds also will be used for community outreach activities.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

Public Health - Seattle & King County (PHSKC) was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. King County (population 1,737,034) is located on the Puget Sound in western Washington State, and covers more than 2,200 square miles. The Seattle-King County region is a culturally diverse area, with immigration playing a pivotal role in Seattle's increasing diversity. Its population includes Native American, African-American, Native Hawaiian, Latino, and Southeast Asian residents. The poverty rate in the county is 8.4 percent. Over the past decade, residents have witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of makeshift drug labs that continue to impact their communities. These labs are found throughout King County, with a large concentration in the southern part of the county. Contamination from methamphetamine drug lab activities has caused negative social, economic, and environmental impacts on King County. Brownfields assessment, eventual cleanup, and redevelopment will increase the economic value of contaminated properties, increase community pride, and decrease health and environmental threats associated with methamphetamine labs.

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://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/sites/bf

Grant Recipient: Public Health - Seattle & King County, WA
206-296-4806

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