PILOT SNAPSHOT |
| Date of Announcement:
May 1998
Amount: $200,000 |
|
Profile: The Pilot will target selected abandoned
and underutilized properties in order to demonstrate its
comprehensive Brownfields Evaluation and Assessment Program.
|
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Johnstown for a Brownfields Pilot. Johnstown,
a city of 28,134 in southwestern Pennsylvania, has an unemployment
rate of 14.2% and a poverty rate of 27%. At one time, 70% of the
city's blue-collar workers were employed in the area's steel mills
and coal mines. The closing of Bethlehem Steel in 1992 resulted
in the loss of 12,000 jobs. Abandoned and underutilized industrial
and manufacturing properties have contributed to the environmental
deterioration of the area. The mills were built on some of the
scarce flat land in the area's mountainous terrain, making redevelopment
of these sites an important issue. Although the state has a successful
brownfields cleanup program, many companies are still hesitant
to participate due to liability concerns.
Pennsylvania has designated the city as an Enterprise Zone as
well as a Distressed Community under the state's Municipalities
Recovery Act. The City of Johnstown, the Johnstown Redevelopment
Authority, and Johnstown Area Regional Industries, Inc. have formed
a "Brownfields Renaissance" partnership and prepared a Memorandum
of Understanding to produce a strategic cleanup and economic development
plan for growth into the next century.
The Pilot has identified the Cambria Iron Works National Historic
Landmark as a potential brownfields site. The 12-acre former steel
mill (the only one in the nation with an historic designation)
has three buildings with reuse potential. Pilot funds will be
used to assess the property; the Pilot also plans to work with
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create an urban greenway walking
trail on the site.
OBJECTIVES
The objective of Johnstown's brownfields program is to initiate a comprehensive
brownfields evaluation and assessment program. The city will use
the EPA Pilot to develop partnerships between public and private
entities; identify sites most suited to assessment, cleanup, and
redevelopment; conduct site assessments; and develop a plan for
environmental cleanup and economic redevelopment.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
- Developing a long-term brownfields program that fosters public and private
partnerships to identify, evaluate, and reuse brownfields;
- Gathering information to develop a database of potential brownfields
sites for redevelopment;
- Developing criteria for ranking identified sites, with a particular
emphasis on nearby disadvantaged populations;
- Exploring supplemental funding from Pennsylvania's Industrial
Site Reuse Program to aid in site assessment and cleanup; and
- Conducting public relations, other outreach, and education
efforts, including town meetings, radio talk shows, newsletters,
and an Internet web site.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
CONTACTS
Johnstown Redevelopment Authority
City of Johnstown
(814) 535-6564
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 3
(215) 566-3129
Visit the EPA Region 3 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bfs/index.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/
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