Brownfields 2003 Grant Fact Sheet

Eureka, CA

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic development to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.

CLEANUP GRANT

$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Eureka for a cleanup grant. The grant funds will be used to conduct cleanup activities on the two-acre former foundry area of the Old Carson Mill Site. The cleanup of this site will prevent exposure to petroleum-contaminated soil and migration of contaminants into the groundwater and Humboldt Bay.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Eureka was selected to receive a cleanup grant. The city, a federally designated Enterprise Zone at the edge of Humboldt Bay, has targeted the currently vacant foundry area along the waterfront for cleanup and redevelopment. Waterfront revitalization has been stalled because of the presence of vacant, blighted, and potentially contaminated properties once home to the industries that located on the Bay. The city (population 26,000) has experienced a shift to lower paying service-sector jobs, an increase in the poverty rate to 19 percent, and the lowest rates of construction and retail sales in over 15 years. Redevelopment plans for the target site include retail, office, residential, restaurant, conference, and recreational facilities. This project is key to the expansion of the base industries of the city, including tourism.

CONTACTS

For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/brownfields.

EPA Region 9 Brownfields Team
415-972-3188
http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/

Grant Recipient: City of Eureka, CA
707-441-4144

Prior to receipt of these funds in fiscal year 2003, the City of Eureka has not received brownfields grant funding.

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