Brownfields Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet

PILOT SNAPSHOT
	Date of Announcement: June 1999 Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets brownfields in central Albuquerque and the La Mesa/Trumbull and Sawmill/Wells Park neighborhoods.

BACKGROUND

EPA has selected the City of Albuquerque for a Brownfields Pilot. Albuquerque, located in the north-central region of the state, has a metro-area population of 620,000. The Pilot project encompasses three areas designated as Metropolitan Redevelopment Areas (MRAs) that have high minority populations, high poverty rates, and have been economically impacted by brownfields.

With the coming of railroads in the late 1800s, Albuquerque's population increased and industry grew in close proximity to the railroads. Environmental contamination resulting from businesses such as rail yards, meat packing plants, electrical generating stations, and wood products companies continues to adversely impact central-city neighborhoods, where 3,000 acres of brownfields have been identified. Eleven of these sites are within the three Pilot-targeted MRAs: central Albuquerque, the Sawmill/Wells Park area, and La Mesa/Trumbull. These three areas are low-income communities which also contain industrial areas affected by real or perceived environmental contamination.

OBJECTIVES

The Pilot project is a part of the city's overall redevelopment initiative, the goal of which is to encourage redevelopment and sustainable reuse. By conducting site assessments and facilitating cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields within the MRAs, the Pilot will enable the city's redevelopment initiative to move forward. Pilot plans also include creating a streamlined redevelopment process—a "one-stop-shop" for developers; developing a brownfields inventory and prioritizing sites; and involving the community and stakeholders in the redevelopment process using alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Creating a brownfields inventory and prioritizing sites;

• Conducting Phase I and Phase II site assessments on brownfields within the MRAs;

• Tracking brownfields assessment activities and results in the city's existing geographic information system (GIS);

• Establishing a Brownfields Advisory Consortium including members of the community, government, and businesses to address redevelopment planning;

• Streamlining the city's redevelopment process by creating a "one-stop-shop"; and

• Identifying redevelopment financing options.

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

CONTACTS

City of Albuquerque
Albuquerque Development Services
(505) 244-6642

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 6
(214) 665-6736

Visit the EPA Region 6 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.htm

For further information, including specific Pilot contacts, additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/