Brownfields Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet

Bristol, CT

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:
April 2001

Amount: $200,000

Profile: The Pilot targets brownfield sites in two gateway corridors leading into the city and another downtown property. The Pilot is integrated into the city's preliminary plan for the revitalization of downtown Bristol.

BACKGROUND

EPA has selected the City of Bristol for a Brownfields Assessment Pilot. Bristol (population 59,224) is 12 miles west of Hartford, Connecticut. The Pilot targets five potentially contaminated properties in two major gateways into the downtown (the North End Route 6 gateway and the Riverside Avenue gateway) and one property (H.J. Mills) in the center of downtown. The target sites are former manufacturing sites located in a state Enterprise Zone.

The decline of manufacturing in the city has led to a conversion to a service oriented economy. This has resulted in a decreasing city population, a decreasing per capita income compared to the state, and an unemployment rate that is lower than the state average. Numerous properties are vacant or underused because owners and developers fear the costs of potential cleanups if the sites were assessed. The blighted nature of the target sites gives a poor impression of living conditions when entering the city through its two major gateways.

OBJECTIVES

The city's objectives are to revitalize the downtown and beautify the city's gateways. As part of these objectives, the Pilot will perform Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments at five properties and develop cleanup plans and cost estimates for these sites. The Pilot will conduct Phase III environmental testing at the H.J. Mills site, on which Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments were completed under EPA's Targeted Brownfields Assessment program. In addition, the Pilot will implement community outreach and education in the targeted communities.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments at five properties in the gateway corridors;
Developing cleanup plans for the five gateway properties;
Completing a Phase III assessment of the H.J. Mills property;
Providing community outreach, including workshops in the Pilot communities; and
Implementing the Pilot’s environmental justice plan.

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 Bristol
(860) 584-7699

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 1
(617) 918-1424

Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/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/

United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460

Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)

EPA 500-F-01-262
April 2001

Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)

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