Brownfields Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet

BACKGROUND

EPA has selected the Rio Grande Council of Governments for a Brownfields Pilot. The Council serves as the regional planning agency to one county in southern New Mexico and six counties in west Texas. The Council has designated these communities as the Upper Rio Grande Project Area, and the Pilot will target brownfields properties located here. The area (population 235,364) is characterized by high unemployment, low per capita income, and minority rates ranging from 40.6% to 81.9%. The west Texas and southern New Mexico region is experiencing explosive population growth due to Sunbelt migration and immigration. However, the Upper Rio Grande area has not experienced the accompanying economic growth enjoyed by the rest of Texas.

The brownfields located throughout these counties are typical of those in rural areas. They include abandoned small industrial sites, light manufacturing and utilities, automotive service stations, farming operations, closed landfills, and illegal dump sites. The majority of these targeted sites, of which several are suspected of having heavy contamination, are surrounded by residential or other commercial properties, or are located in a potential growth corridor. These underused or abandoned properties negatively impact their communities through groundwater contamination, threats to public health, and depreciation of adjacent property values. The communities in the Upper Rio Grande Project Area do not have the economic resources to address brownfields issues; however, the Pilot project will serve as the first step toward reintegration of these underused properties into their communities.

OBJECTIVES

The overall objective of the Rio Grande Council of Governments is to clean up and redevelop the contaminated properties in the project area and integrate them back into productive use, thereby adding economic, social, and/or recreational value to their communities. To aid in this effort, the Pilot will focus on brownfields identification, environmental assessment, and redevelopment planning. In addition, the Pilot will seek to build community consensus through outreach activities on project priorities and redevelopment strategies.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Identifying and inventorying brownfield sites in the project area;

• Conducting environmental site assessments to quantify the extent of contamination on identified sites;

• Performing community outreach activities;

• Performing more detailed Phase II site assessments as warranted; and

• Planning for financing the cleanup and future redevelopment of contaminated properties for sustainable reuse.

CONTACTS

Rio Grande Council of Governments
(915) 533-0998

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

Visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/