Brownfields Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet

City of Sarasota, FL

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 a 19-acre illegal dump site in the Newtown area of Sarasota for the construction of an eco-industrial project.

BACKGROUND

EPA has selected the City of Sarasota for a Brownfields Pilot. Sarasota (population 50,961) has identified the Newtown neighborhood as the targeted area for the Pilot. Newtown (population 4,000) has a 53 percent non-white population, with an average per capita income of approximately $6,000. The city is pursuing a sustainable reuse of the Pilot site for the community.

The Pilot targets a 19-acre, city-owned site that was used for illegal dumping of household waste in the 1940s and 1950s. The site is located on Newtown's main street and is a large, highly visible blighted area. It is considered a nuisance by neighbors and is characterized by overgrown weeds, broken glass, construction rubble, and composted urban waste. However, the exact extent of contamination is unknown due to the unregulated dumping over the 20-year period. Several attempts at redevelopment have failed because of the contamination issues. Despite the contamination stigma and the potential for leachate in the area, some neighbors continue to draw well water near the site. For more than 30 years the property has been sitting vacant and undeveloped in the middle of this community.

OBJECTIVES

The city seeks a sustainable use for the property and currently leases it to the Florida House Institute for Sustainable Development (FHI). Plans are underway to transfer ownership from the city to the non-profit organization. FHI plans to develop the 19-acre site into an Eco-Industrial/Florida Farm Learning Center Project. The project plans to provide jobs and job training, a working demonstration urban-agriculture farm, and a business incubator for local entrepreneurs. Some public and private funds have been leveraged for various aspects of the project, including funding for connection to the city's water system; construction and build-out of on-site buildings needed for the center; and coordination with businesses and residents to determine the sustainable development opportunities in the area. Pilot funds would assess the on-site contamination and assist in determining cleanup plans prior to development of the center.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Performing Phase I and II assessments of the property;

• Identifying cleanup and redevelopment plans; and

• Engaging the local community and other stakeholders in the redevelopment process.

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 Sarasota
(941) 954-2612

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 4
(404) 562-8661

Visit the EPA Region 4 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/

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-99-135
June 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/

Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)

Quick Reference Fact Sheet