Brownfields 2006 Grant Fact Sheet

Tifton, GA

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

$150,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the City of Tifton for a brownfields assessment grant. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to conduct Phase I and II environmental site assessments of the former Horizon Mill property, which is suspected of being contaminated with hazardous substances co-mingled with petroleum. Grant funds also will be used to develop cleanup plans, conduct community outreach activities, and monitor the health of communities surrounding the site.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Tifton was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. Tifton (population 15,060), located in south central Georgia, is in the process of implementing a redevelopment plan for its historic downtown district. This district includes a number of abandoned vacant lots where commercial and industrial buildings once stood. The targeted eight-acre site, originally a packaging and distribution warehouse for tobacco and later a textile manufacturing facility, is at the top of the city's list for redevelopment. The plant, built in 1888 and abandoned in the early 1990s, is located next to the city's historic district and is seen as a bridge between downtown and the west side of Tifton. It is an unsafe, run-down eyesore that poses a potential threat to area residents. Nearly 70 percent of the residents in the surrounding neighborhoods are minorities and approximately 42 percent live in poverty. Assessment and eventual cleanup of the mill property will remove the eyesore and potential safety and health threats from the community. The city plans to redevelop the site into a mixed-use development with residential and commercial properties, including walking trails to connect the downtown area with the local university and other new development. The city expects this revitalization to spur redevelopment in Tifton's west side, thereby creating new job opportunities and increasing the local tax base.

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 4 Brownfields Team
404-562-8866
http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/index.htm

Grant Recipient: City of Tifton, GA
229-391-3977

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