Brownfields Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet

Barberton, OH

EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.

PILOT SNAPSHOT

Date of Announcement: June 1999

Amount: $200,000

Profile: The Pilot targets four brownfields in a 250-acre tract in the Van Buren neighborhood of South Barberton.

BACKGROUND

EPA has selected the City of Barberton for a Brownfields Pilot. Barberton (population 27,623) is an urban, working-class community located along the I-76 corridor in the Tuscawaras River watershed. Downsizing and shutdowns of industrial operations during the past 20 years have resulted in 2,000 lost jobs and a decline in tax revenue for the city. The city's residents also suffer from a 16.7 percent poverty rate and a 22.5 percent unemployment rate.

As a result of the shutdowns and downsizing, 652 acres of brownfields now represent 51 percent of Barberton's developable land. As a part of an overall city revitalization strategy, Barberton plans to clean up and redevelop a 250-acre brownfields tract in South Barberton. The area includes a construction and demolition landfill, a scrap yard, a motor freight company, a machine shop, an asphalt plant and gravel mining operations, and unregulated dump sites.

OBJECTIVES

The Pilot's objective is to facilitate the cleanup and redevelopment of 250 acres of contiguous land in South Barberton as a self-sustaining, mixed-use neighborhood by completing site assessments at four priority brownfields. The Pilot will be implemented within the city's broader revitalization strategy, which seeks to address housing and transportation needs, public service issues, industrial and commercial jobs, and related quality of life issues. Cleanup and redevelopment of the brownfields within South Barberton are a key component of this strategy. The redevelopment plans for the targeted area, known as the Van Buren neighborhood, include low-income housing and other residences, a 3.7-acre lake, and incubator-like industrial opportunities.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Performing four environmental assessments within South Barberton;

• Completing a city-wide groundwater contamination assessment and preparing a cleanup plan;

• Conducting public outreach activities, including distribution of four Pilot-project newsletters and holding four community informational meetings; and

• Holding four workshops to facilitate the participation of property owners in site cleanups.

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 Barberton
Department of Planning
(330) 848-6729

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 5
(312) 353-3161

Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/

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/

United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460

Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)

EPA 500-F-99-137
June 1999

Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)

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