Brownfields 2004 Grant Fact Sheet

Oakland Housing Authority, 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, the President 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 GRANTS

$600,000 for hazardous substances

EPA has selected the Oakland Housing Authority to receive three brownfields cleanup grants. Grant funds will be used to clean up contamination at 811 69th Avenue, site of a former acetylene gas plant; 801 69th Avenue, a former iron and metal company, and auto parts and salvage company; and 920-954 66th Avenue, a former cannery and recycling facility. The sites are all part of the Coliseum Gardens HOPE VI revitalization project, a 19-acre master planned community in Central East Oakland.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Oakland Housing Authority was selected to receive three brownfields cleanup grants. Oakland is a city of 399,484 residents in Alameda County. The three target areas are part of the Coliseum Gardens project in Central East Oakland. The demographics in the neighborhood surrounding the project (population 5,174) are dramatically different from the City of Oakland. Forty-seven percent of the neighborhood residents are African-American, and 38 percent are Hispanic. The per capita income is 42 percent of the city's per capita, one-third of the residents live below the poverty level, and the unemployment rate is 16.8 percent. More than 55 percent of households pay more than 30 percent of their income toward housing. The Coliseum Gardens project is close to public transportation and the Oakland Coliseum and Arena complex. Once cleaned up, these sites will become part of the revitalization of the Gardens that will include affordable rental and ownership housing units, a family economic success center, and a child care center, all built around a 5.7-acre park and master-planned open space.

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: Oakland Housing Authority, CA
510-587-2143

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