Brownfields Supplemental Assistance Fact Sheet

PILOT SNAPSHOT
	Date of Announcement: March 2000 Amount: $150,000
Target Area: Bucks County, PA Profile: The Pilot will identify and rank brownfields sites in Bucks County and target priority brownfields sites for acquisition, assessment, cleanup, and/or redevelopment.

BACKGROUND

EPA awarded the Bucks County supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot. Since the mid-twentieth century, the economic vitality of Bucks County has centered around a manufacturing industrial base located along the Delaware River. Bucks County has been the site for much industry, mainly because of its major transportation routes, including the Delaware River, Delaware Canal, Neshaminy Creek, Interstate-95, Route 202, and Route 611. Despite accessibility to an established transportation network and a large, high-quality workforce, businesses tend to avoid brownfields and their suspected contamination and, instead, elect to locate in undeveloped parts of the county, which has exacerbated urban decay and suburban sprawl.

Originally, the Pilot focused on three municipalities and later expanded to cover all six municipalities comprising the Enterprise Zone (EZ) located in the lower portion of the county. While the concentration of industrial sites is greatest in the EZ municipalities, it is estimated that all municipalities within Bucks County have at least one industrial property. Many of these industrial businesses are now either defunct or operating at diminished capacity. It is estimated that there are more than three square miles of vacant industrial facilities, underused buildings, and abandoned properties in the county.

OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES

The Pilot, lead by the Redevelopment Authority of the Bucks County, will use the supplemental assistance to expand its efforts to identify and rank brownfields throughout the remaining 48 municipalities of Bucks County. To do this, the Pilot plans to focus on 6 to 10 (depending on the size) municipalities at one time. The Pilot will then target priority brownfields sites for acquisition, assessment, cleanup, and/or redevelopment.

To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to:

• Identify and locate, using tax map parcel numbers and street maps, all vacant properties zoned for industrial or commercial usage;

• Meet with community officials in charge of each municipality to identify which vacant or underutilized properties are possible brownfields sites;

• Conduct initial field investigations to identify eligible brownfields sites;

• Rate the remaining properties to establish a list of priority brownfields sites;

• Contact the corresponding property owners and municipalities about proceeding with the acquisition, assessment, and cleanup of the sites; and

• Assess properties.

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

CONTACTS

Bucks County
Redevelopment Authority
of the County of Bucks
(215) 781-8711

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 3
(215) 814-3129

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/