Brownfields Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet

BACKGROUND

EPA Region 5 selected the Downriver Community Conference (DCC) for a Regional Brownfields Pilot. DCC is a municipal collaboration which comprises 17 communities in suburban Detroit. The Brownfield Pilot focuses on sites within the Downriver Area Brownfields Consortium (DABC). Participants include the Cities of Dearborn, Monroe, Riverview, Romulus, Taylor and Trenton, and the Port of Monroe. Industrial disinvestment resulted in the creation of over 700 acres of brownfields. In Monroe alone, about 65 percent of the available industrial property is brownfields. In Riverview, about 75 percent of the available industrial property is brownfields.

OBJECTIVES

DABC's objective is to create a collaborative process for small cities to share financial and technical assistance and achieve their brownfields redevelopment objectives. Unlike many large urban cities, smaller communities lack the financial capacity and ability for obtaining intergovernmental assistance to individually address their brownfields problems. Under the Pilot, DABC will develop and test a Redevelopment Model that identifies, investigates, and evaluates the potential future land use of selected brownfields sites within the participating communities. Success will be measured by how many brownfields sites advance through Model stages, and ultimately by the sale and redevelopment of brownfields.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

The Pilot is:

• Identifying and selecting brownfields properties for development. Participating communities have submitted candidate sites to DABC;

• Conducting baseline environmental assessments, an economic feasibility assessment, and cost-benefit analysis for each site;

• Developing a remediation feasibility study on a specific site(s), community involvement program, and ownership transfer plan; and

• Creating a development plan.

LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES

Experience with the Downriver Community Conference Pilot has been a catalyst for related activities including the following. Collectively, the cities involved in this project have secured a commitment of more than $11,000,000 in private and public funding for environmental cleanup and infrastructure development. The Monroe City Council and the Monroe Port Commission have championed the redevelopment of former industrial sites. The Monroe County Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), a non-profit corporation funded by public and private funds, markets industrial sites across Monroe County. The IDC has made numerous presentations of the City's former industrial sites to potential developers.

CONTACTS:

Jim Tischler
City of Monroe
(313) 243-0700

Stephen Van Every
Downriver Community Conference
(313) 281-0700

Mike Gifford
U.S. EPA - Region 5
(312) 886-7257

Mary Beth Tuohy
U.S. EPA - Region 5
(312) 886-7596

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