Brownfields Supplemental Assistance Fact Sheet

PILOT SNAPSHOT
	Date of Announcement: March 2000 Amount: $100,000
Target Area: City of East Palo Alto, CA Profile: The Pilot will target two adjacent sites at the mouth of the Ravenswood Industrial Area for assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment into a community-oriented service center.

BACKGROUND

EPA awarded the City of East Palo Alto supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Pilot. East Palo Alto has an ethnically diverse population of approximately 25,000 residents within a 2.5-square-mile area. According to the 1990 Census, community residents are 86 percent minority, including African Americans, Latinos, Pacific Islanders, and Asians. Incorporated in 1983, the city inherited an area with inadequate infrastructure, low sales and property tax revenues, no central business district, and the 130-acre Ravenswood Industrial Area (RIA). The RIA overlooks wetlands and the San Francisco Bay and is located near technology-based Silicon Valley, making it an attractive location for local industries. Redevelopment in the RIA, however, has been hampered by the perception of widespread contamination. The RIA Brownfields Stakeholders Group met over a period of nine months, making a series of overarching recommendations regarding redevelopment of the area.

OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES

East Palo Alto's objective is to continue efforts to revitalize the RIA. Through the supplemental assistance Pilot, the city will target two sites—the People's Plaza site and a city-owned property—that sit adjacent to one another at the entrance to the RIA. Because of their location, East Palo Alto plans to use these sites as flagship projects to set the image, tone, and character of future development in the area. The city hopes that redevelopment plans for these sites—a Family Resource Center and a possible health clinic—will bring the RIA into the "community fold," changing perception about the area and encouraging community relationships with the adjacent San Francisco Bay and wetlands. The supplemental grant will provide the city with the resources it needs to conduct assessments on these properties and to develop site-specific land use plans that will facilitate cleanup decisions and optimize site reuse.

To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to:

• Conduct site assessments to determine the nature and extent of contamination at the two targeted sites; and

• Develop cleanup and site-specific land use plans in conjunction with one another.

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

CONTACTS

Development Department
City of East Palo Alto
(650) 853-3121

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 9
(415) 744-2237

Visit the EPA Region 9 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/index.html

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/