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Brownfields 2008 Grant Fact Sheet
Boston, MA
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 this 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 GRANTS
$503,500 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the City of Boston for three brownfields cleanup grants. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to clean up the 191 Bowdoin Street site in Dorchester. Elevated concentrations of heavy metals and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons have been detected at the site. Grant funds also will be used to clean up the former Modern Electroplating and Enameling Facility at 2430 Washington Street in Roxbury. The site is contaminated with a variety of metals and volatile organic compounds. Grant funds also will be used to clean up the former Lewis Chemical property on Fairmount Court in Hyde Park. The facility's primary function was to collect, process, and transport hazardous waste until it closed in 1983. Significant concentrations of volatile organic compounds and PCBs have been detected in the soil and groundwater at the site.
COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION
The City of Boston was selected to receive three brownfields cleanup grants. Located in eastern Massachusetts, Boston (population 589,141) is targeting sites in the neighborhoods of Dorchester, Roxbury, and Hyde Park. Portions of these neighborhoods are in the city's federally designated Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community. The state has identified 470 hazardous waste sites in Dorchester, 306 in Roxbury, and 102 in Hyde Park. Minority populations in these neighborhoods range from 47 to 98 percent of all residents, and unemployment and poverty rates are significantly higher than city or state rates. Cleanup of the Bowdoin Street property is expected to pave the way for a new community center that will offer a wide array of social services. Cleanup of the former Modern Electroplating and Enameling Facility is part of the Dudley Square revitalization effort. Once the site is cleaned up, the city is considering reusing it as a new state-of-the-art police station, retail and office space, and a parking structure. Cleanup of the former Lewis Chemical site will help ongoing revitalization efforts along the Neponset River. Community groups have discussed reuse of the site as a community theater, restaurant space, and a canoe facility at the river's edge.
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.
EPA Region 1 Brownfields Team
617-918-1424
EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site
Grant Recipient: City of Boston, MA
617-635-0398
The information presented in this fact sheet comes from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. The cooperative agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated. Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.