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VICE PRESIDENT GORE ANNOUNCES OVER $30 MILLION TO HELP COMMUNITIES CLEAN UP AND REDEVELOP BROWNFIELDS

Release Date: 05/25/99
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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President
_______________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release
Tuesday, May 25, 1999
VICE PRESIDENT GORE ANNOUNCES OVER $30 MILLION
TO HELP COMMUNITIES CLEAN UP AND REDEVELOP BROWNFIELDS
Also Awards $1.9 Million in Job Training Grants

Edinburgh, TX -- Today, at the White House Community Empowerment Conference in Edinburgh, Texas, the Vice President announced over $32 million in grants to help more than 70 communities across the nation clean up and redevelop Brownfields -- abandoned, contaminated properties, often found in distressed areas -- and return them to thriving centers of prosperity.

This announcement furthers the Administration’s efforts to breathe new life, new opportunity and new hope into the nation’s central cities and isolated rural areas. The Brownfields redevelopment efforts are an important part of the Administration’s overall community empowerment agenda as well.

"There is no greater example of the environment and the economy working hand in hand to benefit the American people than the Administration’s efforts to clean up and revitalize Brownfields," said Vice President Gore. "These grants I am announcing today will help bring to these communities new jobs and new opportunities."

The Vice President today awarded 45 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grants totaling $30.6 million to help 65 communities across the nation leverage funding to cleanup and redevelop abandoned industrial properties. With these grants, communities can set up “revolving loan funds,” providing low-interest loans to businesses and others so that they can turn brownfields back to productive use.

The Vice President also awarded $1.9 million in Job Training Grants to 10 communities to train nearly 600 residents in environmental cleanup techniques, allowing them to find well-paying jobs and furthering the cleanup of brownfields across the nation.

Since 1993, the Administration has taken significant steps to clean up and redevelop Brownfields and return them to productive use, such as removing legal barriers to redevelopment; creating a national model to determine the best way to revitalize communities; providing a targeted $1.5 billion tax incentive to businesses that purchase and cleanup these sites; and providing a total of over $46 million in seed money for 250 Brownfield grants.

Today's announcement also builds on the Administration’s record of ensuring a clean, safe environment and a strong economy. Through the Administration’s efforts to clean up brownfields, over 2,000 jobs have been created, and more than $1 billion has been leveraged from the private sector and other sources to redevelop the abandoned industrial sites.

These grants also advance the Administration’s new Livability Agenda to help communities across America grow in ways that ensure a high quality of life and strong, sustainable economic growth. Last January, Vice President Gore announced that the Livability Agenda will generate $700 million per year to provide new tools and resources for state and local governments to help communities across America grow in ways that ensure a high quality of life and strong, sustainable economic growth. As part of this effort, the new Better America Bonds initiative will provide $9.5 billion in bonding authority over five years to help communities preserve and enhance green spaces, protect water quality, and clean up Brownfields.

As chair of the President’s Community Empowerment Board, the Vice President oversees the Administration’s Community Empowerment Agenda, which includes a series of initiatives to provide greater opportunity in, and expand the competitiveness of, our distressed urban and rural areas.
(more – list of grant recipients follows)
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The communities selected to receive today’s Brownfield Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grants include:
State of Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (Coalition with Phoenix and Tucson)
Austin, Texas
Battle Creek, Michigan
Brockton, Massachusetts
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Central Massachusetts Economic Development Authority, Massachusetts
Charlotte, North Carolina
Chicago, Illinois
Clearwater, Florida
State of Colorado Department of Health & Environment (Coalition with the Cities of Englewood, Lakewood, Loveland, and Denver)
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbus, Ohio
Cowpens, South Carolina
Des Moines, Iowa
East Palo Alto, California
Emeryville, California
Escambia County, Florida
Evanston, Wyoming
Franklin Regional Council of Government, Massachusetts (Coalition with Towns of Colrain and Greenfield)
Hagerstown, Maryland
Hartford, Connecticut
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Hudson County, New Jersey
State of Illinois EPA (Coalition with 6 cities)
Jacksonville, Florida
Kemmerer, Wyoming
Las Vegas, Nevada
Lawrence, Massachusetts
Long Beach, California
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lynn, Massachusetts
Mystic Valley Development Commission, Massachusetts (Cities of Malden, Everett, and Medford, Massachusetts)
State of New Hampshire (Coalition with the State Department of Environmental Services, Office of State Planning Coastal Watershed, City of Concord, and the Towns of Durham and Londonderry)
Niagara County, New York (Coalition with the city of Niagara Falls, NY)
Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, Massachusetts (Coalition with the Cities of Springfield, Chicopee, and Westfield)
Portland, Maine
Portland, Oregon
St. Louis County, Missouri
Shreveport, Louisiana
Somerville, Massachusetts
Stamford, Connecticut
Washington, District of Columbia
Wayne County, Michigan
Wheeling, West Virginia
Yonkers, New York

The entities selected to receive the Brownfields Job Training and Development grants today include:
Bernalillo County, New Mexico
Bucks County Community College, Pennsylvania
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Houston Community College, Texas
King County-City of Seattle, Washington
Mineral Area College, Missouri
Stamford, Connecticut
STRIVE-Boston Employment Service, Inc., Massachusetts
Universidad Metropolitana, Puerto Rico
Young Community Developers, Inc., San Francisco, California

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Arizona
State of Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
(Coalition with Phoenix and Tucson)
Mayor Skip Rimza (Phoenix)
Mayor George Miller (Tucson)
With the $1 million grant announced today by the Vice President, the cities of Phoenix and Tucson and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality have formed a regional coalition to create a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund. This fund will leverage resources to clean up brownfields and spur economic revitalization in Tucson and Phoenix. Tucson has targeted four areas totaling 225 acres for brownfields clean up and redevelopment, and Phoenix will focus its brownfields revitalization activities in a 20-square mile economically distressed area. The state will coordinate and guide the clean up activities, and this project will serve as a model for streamlining brownfields cleanup and redevelopment through intergovernmental cooperation. The Clinton Administration began working with Phoenix and Tucson to clean up brownfields in September 1997, when it awarded the cities EPA seed grants to assess contamination at potential sites and formulate cleanup and redevelopment plans.

California
East Palo Alto, California
Mayor R.B. Jones
With the $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced today by the Vice President, East Palo Alto will leverage funds to clean up contaminated sites throughout the city, particularly the 130-acre Ravenswood Industrial Park. This site has been contaminated by heavy metals, arsenic, and other toxic substances. The low-interest loans leveraged through the revolving loan fund will assist with the site’s planned transformation into a mixed-use development and employment center with high-tech commercial offices. East Palo Alto has been working with the Administration since 1996 to revitalize its brownfields, and in March 1998 the Vice President designated the city as a Brownfields Showcase Community to serve as a model for future cooperative efforts in cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields, creating jobs, and stimulating local economies.

Emeryville, California
Mayor Gary Caffey
With the $500,000 grant announced by the Vice President today, Emeryville will create a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund to leverage resources to clean up and redevelop brownfields and to revitalize the local economy. Emeryville and the Clinton Administration started working together to revitalize its brownfields in May 1996 when the city received a $200,000 EPA seed grant to identify and assess potential brownfields sites.

Long Beach, California
Mayor Beverly O’Neill
The $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today will allow Long Beach to leverage funds to clean up contaminated properties and expedite redevelopment. Long Beach will focus its efforts on abandoned business sites and vacant lots that are the result of three military base closures, massive aerospace downsizing,


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rioting, and one of the worst recessions in California’s history. The Clinton Administration started working with Long Beach to revitalize its brownfields in July 1998 when the EPA awarded the city a $200,000 seed grant to identify and assess potential brownfields sites.

Young Community Developers, Inc. -- San Francisco, California
YCD Executive Director Dwayne Jones
With the $200,000 Brownfields Job Training and Development grant announced by the Vice President today, Young Community Developers, Inc. (YCD) -- a 25-year-old community-based organization -- plans to train 40 low-income residents in environmental assessment and cleanup technologies and help place them in good-paying jobs. YCD will target its efforts in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood and the nearly 120 brownfields that have been identified within a three-mile radius of this area.

Colorado
State of Colorado Department of Health & Environment
(Coalition with the Cities of Englewood, Lakewood, Loveland, and Denver)
Mayor Pro Tem Alex Habenicht (Englewood)
Mayor Linda Morton (Lakewood)
Mayor Wellington E. Webb (Denver)
Mayor Kathleen Gilliland (Loveland)
With the $1.7 million grant announced by the Vice President today, a coalition of the Colorado Department of Health & Environment and the cities of Lakewood, Englewood, Loveland, and Denver will create a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund to leverage resources to target brownfields cleanup and redevelopment efforts in areas with a high proportion of lower-income residents. This coalition will initially focus on brownfields cleanup and redevelopment in the Denver Metro area and the city of Loveland and eventually anticipates making up to three loans in each local area of the original loan pool. The individual cities in this coalition have been working with the Clinton Administration since 1997-1998, when they received EPA seed grants to identify and evaluate potential brownfields.

Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Mayor Michael P. Peters
With the $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today, Hartford will create a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund to leverage resources for industrial or commercial ventures. The ventures will redevelop abandoned, contaminated sites, generate new business, and revitalize the local economy. The Clinton Administration began working with Hartford to revitalize its brownfields in September 1997 when the city received an EPA assessment grant to identify and evaluate possible brownfields sites.

Stamford, Connecticut
Mayor Dannell P. Malloy
Stamford will use the $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today to leverage funds to clean up three major sites in its South End and Waterside neighborhoods. It is anticipated that the successful turnaround of these properties will

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serve as a catalyst for the redevelopment of numerous smaller sites in the harbor area. In March 1998, the Vice President chose the city to serve as Brownfields Showcase Community to serve as a model for future cooperative efforts in cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields, creating jobs and stimulating local economies.

With the $200,000 Brownfields Job Training and Development grant announced by the Vice President today, Stamford plans to train 35 lower-income residents of South End and Waterside neighborhoods in innovative environmental assessment and cleanup technologies. These areas contain dozens of abandoned industrial sites which the city is trying to revitalize. This job training grant will help trainees find jobs, as well as further brownfields cleanup and redevelopment.

District of Columbia
Washington, District of Columbia
Mayor Anthony Williams
Washington, D.C. will use the $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today to leverage resources to recreate integrated urban communities of commercial, manufacturing, and residential areas that share a safe and healthy environment. The revolving loan fund will help revitalize the local economy by providing low-interest loans to developers to clean up and develop brownfields sites throughout the city. The city of Washington, D.C. and the Clinton Administration have been working together to revitalize brownfields since July 1998 when the city received an EPA seed grant to identify and assess potential brownfields sites.

Florida
Clearwater, Florida
City Manager Michael Roberto
With the $500,000 grant announced by the Vice President today, Clearwater will create a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund to leverage funds to clean up its North and South Greenwood neighborhoods, which contain approximately 200 potentially contaminated brownfields sites and have high poverty and unemployment rates. The Clinton Administration and Clearwater started working together to redevelop its brownfields in September 1996 when the city received a seed grant from the EPA to identify and assess contamination at potential brownfields sites.

Escambia County, Florida
Chairman, Board of Commissioners Michael Bass
With the $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced today by the Vice President, Escambia County will leverage resources to clean up the Palofax Corridor, the gateway to the city of Pensacola. Low-interest loans will be leveraged from the revolving loan fund to redevelop the Corridor into a commercial center surrounded by improved residential neighborhoods. The Clinton Administration began working with Escambia County to revitalize its brownfields in July 1998 when it awarded the county a seed grant from the EPA to target and evaluate potential brownfields sites.



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Jacksonville, Florida
Mayor John Delaney
The $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced today by the Vice President will help Jacksonville clean up and redevelop its brownfields by providing another tool to attract developers to its inner city. Jacksonville’s inner-city is marked by decaying neighborhoods located among abandoned industrial brownfields, and the 18-square mile area in the inner city targeted for clean up efforts contains more than 95 known contaminated sites. Jacksonville and the Clinton Administration have been working together to revitalize brownfields since December 1997, when the city received a $200,000 seed grant from the EPA to identify and assess potential brownfields sites.

Illinois
Chicago, Illinois
Mayor Richard M. Daley
With the $500,000 grant announced by the Vice President today, Chicago will leverage funds to redevelop up to seven acres of brownfields, located primarily in or near communities with high rates of unemployment, poverty, and crime. Chicago has been working with the Administration since 1997 to revitalize its brownfields, and in March 1998 the Vice President selected Chicago as a Brownfields Showcase Community to serve as a model for future cooperative efforts in cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields, creating jobs and stimulating local economies.

State of Illinois EPA
(Coalition with the State and the Cities of Canton, East Moline, Freeport, Galva, Lacon, and Waukegan)
Mayor Donald Edward (Canton)
Mayor William Ward (East Moline)
Mayor James Gitz (Freeport)
Mayor Tom Hartman (Galva)
Mayor Don Hodge (Lacon)
Mayor William Durkin (Waukegan)
The Illinois coalition -- which consists of the State of Illinois and the cities of Canton, East Moline, Freeport, Galva, Lacon, and Waukegan -- will use the $3.5 million Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today to leverage resources to support efforts by local governments to clean up and redevelop abandoned contaminated properties. This revolving loan fund will transform these sites into productive development projects that will increase the tax base and remove urban blight. The Clinton Administration started working with the State of Illinois to revitalize its brownfields in October 1995 when it awarded the state an assessment grant from the EPA to identify and assess potential brownfields.

Iowa
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Mayor Lee R. Clancey
With the $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today, Cedar Rapids will leverage funds for brownfields cleanup and redevelopment projects, focusing on a former steel sales and manufacturing business, a former foundry, and an


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abandoned meat-packing facility in the south side of Cedar Rapids. Cedar Rapids began working with the Clinton Administration to revitalize its abandoned industrial sites in July 1998 when the city received an assessment grant from the EPA to identify and evaluate potential brownfields sites.

Des Moines, Iowa
Mayor Preston A. Daniels
With the $500,000 grant announced by the Vice President today, Des Moines will create a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan fund to leverage resources to clean up and revitalize brownfields in the southeastern area of the city, which has high poverty and unemployment rates and contains a number of deteriorated structures and abandoned contaminated properties. In addition to the revolving loan fund, Des Moines plans to create a comprehensive redevelopment plan for agribusiness reuse. Des Moines and the Clinton Administration have been working together to revitalize brownfields since September 1997, when the city received an EPA seed grant to identify and evaluate potential brownfields sites.

Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Mayor Keith Hightower
With the $500,000 grant announced by the Vice President today, Shreveport will create a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund to leverage resources to clean up and redevelop brownfields and revitalize local economies in its oldest urban neighborhoods. Shreveport has been working with the Clinton Administration to transform its brownfields into thriving economic centers since July 1996, when the city received an EPA assessment grant to identify and evaluate potential brownfields sites.

Maine
Portland, Maine
Mayor Thomas Kane
With the $500,000 grant announced by the Vice President today, Portland will create a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan fund to leverage resources to spur economic revitalization by cleaning up and redeveloping the West Bayside, East Bayside, and Parkside areas of the City. The decline of these neighborhoods coincided with a decline in manufacturing and commercial activity. Portland and the Clinton Administration have been working together to revitalize its brownfields since September 1996, when the city received an EPA seed grant to identify and evaluate possible brownfields sites.

Maryland
Hagerstown, Maryland
Mayor Robert Bruchey
With the $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced today by the Vice President, Hagerstown will leverage funds to spur cleanup and redevelopment of sites along 13 miles of rail corridor within the central urbanized area of the city. Previously, developers were avoiding properties in this area as potential redevelopment sites due to environmental contamination. The Clinton Administration demonstrated its commitment to redeveloping Hagerstown’s abandoned industrial sites in July 1998 when it awarded the city with a $200,000 seed grant from the EPA to start transforming its brownfields into vital economic sectors.
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Massachusetts
Brockton, Massachusetts
Mayor John T. Yunits, Jr.
With the $500,000 grant announced by the Vice President today, Brockton – a Massachusetts town trying to rebound from the loss of its industrial base and pattern of disinvestment – will leverage funds through the creation of a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund to revitalize brownfields sites within its Economic Corridor. Brownfields comprise about one-third of the area in the Economic Corridor, a north-south tract that runs through the City’s center and contains most of its industrially-zoned property. Since most industrially-zoned land in Brockton is already developed, the Economic Corridor is Brockton’s last major resource for industrial growth. Brockton and the Clinton Administration began working together to redevelop abandoned industrial sites in July 1998 when the city received an assessment grant from the EPA to identify and evaluate potential brownfields sites.

Central Massachusetts Economic Development Authority, Massachusetts
David J. Dunham, CMEDA Executive Director
The $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today will be complemented with $1 million in funds from Worcester County and $1 million in private funds, providing 8 communities in central Massachusetts with a $2.5 million revolving loan fund to leverage funds to begin cleaning-up the 320 confirmed brownfields sites in the area. The Central Massachusetts Economic Development Authority (CMEDA) includes: Worcester, Auburn, Clinton, Dudley, Grafton, Holden, Leicester, and Webster. The Clinton Administration demonstrated its commitment to redeveloping central Massachusetts’s abandoned industrial sites in June 1996 when it awarded the CMEDA with an EPA seed grant to start transforming its brownfields into vital economic sectors.

Franklin Regional Council of Government, Massachusetts
(Coalition with Towns of Colrain and Greenfield)
Jay DiPucchio, Executive Director, Franklin Regional Council of Governments
Greenfield Town Manager Norman Thidemann
Colrain Chair of Selectmen William Kerizan
The Franklin Regional Council of Governments -- a coalition made up of the Towns of Colrain and Greenfield -- will use the $1 million Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced today by the Vice President to leverage resources to clean up and redevelop former machine tool manufacturing plants and mills. Colrain and Greenfield are both located in Franklin County, one of the most rural and economically distressed areas in Massachusetts. The Clinton Administration began working with Colrain in 1998 and Greenfield in 1997 to clean up and redevelop brownfields when it awarded each town a $200,000 seed grant to assess contamination at potential sites and formulate cleanup and redevelopment plans.

Lawrence, Massachusetts
Mayor Patricia A. Dowling
The decline in manufacturing in Lawrence over the past fifty years has resulted in the underutilization or abandonment of dozens of industrial properties. The $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today will assist Lawrence in leveraging funds to clean up and revitalize these sites. This revitalization will expand the tax base, eliminate blight, and promote business expansion in brownfields areas rather than the
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remaining greenfields surrounding the city. The Clinton Administration and Lawrence have been working together to clean up and redevelop its brownfields since June 1996 when the city received an EPA assessment grant to identify and evaluate possible brownfields areas.

Lowell, Massachusetts
Mayor Eileen Donohue
With the $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today, Lowell -- a northeastern manufacturing town containing over 1,900 acres of abandoned and underutilized industrial and historic mill properties -- will leverage funds to provide the necessary financing to complete the cleanup of priority brownfields sites. Lowell has been working with the Clinton Administration since September 1996 to redevelop the North Canal brownfields area, which will be home to two sports facilities, restored historical architectural sites and added space for the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. In March 1998, the Vice President selected the city as a Brownfields Showcase Community to serve as a model for future cooperative efforts in cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields, creating jobs and stimulating local economies.

Lynn, Massachusetts
Mayor Patrick McManus
Lynn will use the $450,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today to leverage resources to recreate integrated urban communities of commercial, manufacturing, and residential areas that share a safe and healthy environment. The revolving loan fund will spur economic revitalization through the clean up and redevelopment of its brownfields. The Clinton Administration and Lynn have been working together to revitalize its brownfields since October 1997 when the city received an EPA seed grant to identify and assess potential brownfields areas.

Mystic Valley Development Commission, Massachusetts
(Cities of Malden, Everett, and Medford, MA)
Mayor Richard Howard (Malden)
Mayor David Ragucci (Everett)
Mayor Michael McGlynn (Medford & MVDC Chairperson)
The $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today will allow Malden, Medford, and Everett to join forces in leveraging funds to transform a 200-acre area of blighted industrial land into a state-of-the-art telecommunications research and development park. For the three cities, the revolving loan fund will help create new jobs, strengthen the tax base, and rehabilitate the Malden River area. The Clinton Administration has been working with these cities to revitalize brownfields sites since May 1998 when the cities received a $200,000 seed grant from the EPA to identify and assess potential brownfields sites.

Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, Massachusetts
(Coalition with the Cities of Springfield, Chicopee, and Westfield)
Mayor Michael Albano (Springfield),
Mayor Richard Sullivan (Westfield)
Mayor Richard J. Kos (Chicopee)
Timothy Breenen, Executive Director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission

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The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) coalition -- which consists of communities in the Pioneer Valley Region as well as the cities of Springfield, Chicopee, and Westfield -- will use the $2 million Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today to leverage resources to support efforts by local governments to restore abandoned, contaminated brownfields sites. This revolving loan fund will transform these sites into productive development projects that will increase the tax base and help eliminate urban blight. The Clinton Administration started working with the Pioneer Valley Region to revitalize its brownfields in May 1998 when the EPA awarded the region with a seed grant to identify and assess potential brownfields sites.

Somerville, Massachusetts
Mayor William M. Roche
The $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today will allow Somerville to accelerate the transformation of brownfields into productive uses, contributing to the tax base and stimulating new job opportunities. Somerville will target 112 brownfields, concentrated largely in the older industrial areas of the city. The Clinton Administration demonstrated its commitment to redeveloping the Somerville’s abandoned industrial sites in September 1996 when it awarded the city with a $200,000 EPA seed grant to start transforming its brownfields into vital economic sectors.

STRIVE-Boston Employment Service, Inc., Massachusetts
Liem Tran, STRIVE Project Director
STRIVE -- a non-profit employment training and placement organization with offices across the nation -- will use the $200,000 Brownfields Job Training and Development grant announced by the Vice President today to train 75 students in innovative environmental assessment and cleanup techniques and help place them in good-paying jobs. Training efforts will target distressed neighborhoods in Chelsea, Massachusetts, a small community within Boston’s inner core which has been home to various heavy-industry properties, most of which are now vacant or under-used.

Michigan
Battle Creek, Michigan
Mayor Ted Dearing
Battle Creek will couple the $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced today by the Vice President with other public and private funds to create a $1 million revolving loan fund to clean up and redevelop brownfields within its inner-city area, which has been crippled by the effects of unemployment, population loss, and industry and housing abandonment. The brownfields cleanup and redevelopment will revitalize the local economy by providing a new tax base and new jobs. Battle Creek and the Clinton Administration began working together to redevelop abandoned industrial sites in May 1997 when the city received an EPA assessment grant to identify and evaluate potential brownfields sites.

Wayne County, Michigan
Wayne County Executive Edward H. McNamara
$500,000
With the $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced today by the Vice President, Wayne County will leverage funds to transform vacant or underutilized
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properties into productive industrial and recreational sites. Wayne County -- whose economy is strongly influenced by the automobile industry – contains an estimated 2,000 brownfields. The revolving loan fund will primarily provide low-interest loans for redevelopment of the county’s most distressed areas, where 30% of the brownfields are located. The Clinton Administration demonstrated its commitment to redeveloping Wayne County’s abandoned industrial sites in July 1998 when it awarded the county with a $200,000 EPA seed grant to start transforming its brownfields into vital economic sectors.

Minnesota
Hennepin County, Minnesota
County Commissioners Mike Opat, Peter McLaughlin, Gail Dorfman, Mark Stenglein, Mary Tambornino, Randy Johnson, and Penny Steele
Hennepin County will use the $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today to spur cleanup and redevelopment of the county’s several hundred chemically contaminated brownfields sites. Hennepin County will rely on its strong history of public-private partnerships as a resource for the successful marketing and capitalization of the revolving loan fund and as a means of leveraging additional funding from private sources. Hennepin County’s partnership with the Administration began in May 1998 when the County received a $200,000 EPA seed grant to develop a long-term cleanup and redevelopment plan.

Hennepin County Training and Employment Assistance
Larry Blackstad, Program Director
With the $200,000 Job Training and Development grant announced by the Vice President today, Hennepin County plans to train 100 disadvantaged students, particularly single mothers, in comprehensive environmental assessment and cleanup technologies. Trainees will have the skills needed to find good-paying jobs to clean up the brownfields located within Minneapolis’s low-income residential areas. Potential employers have made commitments to provide apprenticeships to graduates and to participate on an Advisory Board.

Missouri
St. Louis County, Missouri
Mayor Lawrence Brady (City of Wellston)
With the $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today, the city of Wellston in St. Louis County will leverage funds to provide developers and businesses low-interest loans to develop abandoned, contaminated properties in Wellston Technology Park. The site contains approximately 1,100 abandoned, contaminated tracts of land that are in need of redevelopment. The Clinton Administration demonstrated its commitment to redeveloping the county’s abandoned industrial sites in September 1997 when it awarded the county with a $200,000 EPA seed grant to start transforming its brownfields into vital economic sectors.

Mineral Area College, Missouri
Shawn Grindstaff, MAC Environmental Policy Institute
The Mineral Area College (MAC), located in Park Hills, Missouri, will use the $200,000 Brownfields Job Training and Development grant announced by the Vice President today to train 50 low-income residents in mine waste site assessment in a 30 credit-hour program that
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emphasizes innovative cleanup technologies. This program will help the students find well-paying jobs and further the cleanup of brownfields in the area. MAC will focus on the Old Lead Belt counties of Bonne Terre and St. Francois, located 60 miles south of St. Louis. The small, rural communities in the two counties are distressed due to the demise of the lead mining industry in the area and contain hundreds of acres of brownfields created by the abandonment of mining-related facilities.

Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Mayor Jan Laverty Jones
With the $500,000 grant announced by the Vice President today, the city of Las Vegas will establish a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund to leverage funds for brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. Las Vegas will focus its efforts on several abandoned industrial sites, including an abandoned property located at a major intersection that can accommodate large retail uses and a former National Guard Armory that will be transformed into a community center and business center. Las Vegas and the Clinton Administration began working together to clean up brownfields in May 1998 when Las Vegas received a $200,000 EPA seed grant to identify and assess potential brownfields sites.

New Hampshire
State of New Hampshire
(Coalition with the State Department of Environmental Services, Office of State Planning Coastal Watershed, City of Concord, and the Towns of Durham and Londonderry)
Governor Jeanne Shaheen
Mayor William J. Veroneau (Concord)
Laurence R. Shaffer, Town Administrator (Durham)
Richard M. Plante, Town Manager (Londonderry)
With the $1.45 million Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today, this coalition of two State agencies, the city of Concord, and the towns of Durham and Londonderry will leverage funds to spur New Hampshire’s economy by cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields sites in smaller towns throughout the state. The pilot will focus its efforts on many of the over 500 abandoned, contaminated hazardous waste sites located throughout Durham, Londonderry, Concord, and the coastal communities of New Hampshire. New Hampshire and the Clinton Administration have been working together to revitalize the state’s brownfields since May 1998, when the state received a $200,000 seed grant from the EPA to start transforming its brownfields into vital economic sectors.

New Jersey
Hudson County, New Jersey
Robert Janiszewski, County Executive
The $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today will help Hudson County revitalize distressed communities by linking developers with low interest financing for environmental cleanup. The loss of manufacturing jobs in Hudson County has left thousands of acres of abandoned industrial property, and Hudson



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County plans to leverage additional funds to increase its total lending pool for brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. The Clinton Administration and Hudson County have been working together to clean up its brownfields since July 1998 when the county received an EPA seed grant to target and assess potential brownfields areas.

New Mexico
Bernalillo County, New Mexico
Bernalillo County Executive Juan R. Vigil
With the $200,000 Brownfields Brownfields Job Training and Development grant announced by the Vice President today, Bernalillo County plans to train 60 low-income students in environmental cleanup technologies and help them find good jobs. Environmental assessment and cleanup firms have committed to hiring local trainees, and the county will place trainees on a priority hiring list.

New York
Niagara County, New York
(Coalition with the City of Niagara Falls, NY)
Chairman Gerald Meal, Niagara County
Mayor James Galie, Niagara Falls
Niagara County and its coalition partner, the City of Niagara Falls, will use the $1 million Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today to leverage financing for the cleanup and redevelopment of dozens of abandoned industrial sites. This coalition has identified 21 sites, totaling 463 acres, that are potential candidates for low-interest cleanup loans under the revolving loan fund. After receiving seed grants from the EPA in 1997 and 1998, Niagara County and Niagara Falls have been working with the Clinton Administration to identify potential brownfields sites and initiate clean up efforts.

Yonkers, New York
Mayor John D. Spencer
The $500,000 grant announced by the Vice President today will enable Yonkers to clean up abandoned contaminated properties and return them to productive use. Due to a rapid decline in its manufacturing base, sections of Yonkers have been reduced to industrial wastelands. With the help of low-interest loans from the revolving loan fund, redevelopment of the city’s brownfields will improve the local economy as well as the quality of life for city residents. The Administration awarded Yonkers with a $200,000 seed grant in May 1998 to conduct a preliminary environmental assessment of its brownfields and to initiate a community involvement program for brownfields redevelopment.

North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Mayor Patrick McCrory
The $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today will help Charlotte revitalize distressed communities by linking developers with low-interest financing for environmental clean up. Charlotte has over 3,000 identified



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brownfields sites, and it will target its brownfields revitalization efforts in the major distressed business corridors radiating from the center city. Charlotte and the Clinton Administration began working together to redevelop abandoned industrial sites in September 1996 when the city received an assessment grant from the EPA to identify and evaluate potential brownfields sites.

Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Mayor Gregory S. Lashutka
With the $500,000 grant announced by the Vice President, Columbus will create a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund to leverage resources to revitalize brownfields in its urban core. Columbus’s development has been gravitating away from its urban core resulting in disproportionately high poverty and unemployment rates. Brownfields cleanup and redevelopment will result in a dramatic revitalization of this area. Columbus and the Clinton Administration began working together to redevelop its brownfields in July 1998, when the city received an EPA seed grant to identify and assess potential brownfields sites.

Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Mayor Vera Katz
With the $500,000 grant announced today by the Vice President, Portland will leverage funds to spur economic revitalization by cleaning up and redeveloping abandoned, industrial areas. As Oregon’s oldest and largest industrial, shipping, and commercial center, Portland has the highest concentration of brownfields in the state and will use the revolving loan fund to restore these areas. Portland has been working with the Clinton Administration since March 1996 to revitalize its brownfields, and in March 1998 the Vice President designated the city as a Brownfields Showcase Community to serve as a model for future cooperative efforts to clean up and redevelop brownfields, create jobs and stimulate local economies.

Pennsylvania
Bucks County Community College, Pennsylvania
Kate Metz, BCCC Center for Business and Industry Training Director
The Vice President announced today that Bucks County Community College will receive a $200,000 Brownfields Job Training and Development grant to train 30 students at its Bristol, Pennsylvania campus in environmental cleanup techniques, allowing them to find well-paying jobs and furthering the cleanup of brownfields in this area. In addition, local environmental engineering firms have pledged to provide internships for these students, as they help revitalize the three square miles of vacant property in this area.


Puerto Rico
Universidad Metropolitana, Puerto Rico
UMET School of Environmental Affairs Dean Carlos Padin
With the $200,000 Brownfields Job Training and Development grant announced by the Vice President today, San Juan’s Universidad Metropolitana (UMET) will teach 30 students innovative environmental cleanup techniques, allowing them to find good jobs and advancing the


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cleanup of brownfields in Puerto Rico. UMET will focus its efforts on a former electroplating site in Peninsula de Cantera, and this training initiative will serve as a model for a broader brownfields redevelopment program in San Juan.

South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Mayor Robert Coble
The City of Columbia will use the $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant announced by the Vice President today, along with other public funds, to leverage resources to revitalize abandoned or underutilized contaminated properties in over 70 neighborhoods. These properties include steel fabrication plants, rail yards and rail spurs, cotton mills and warehouses, gas works, laundries, vehicle repair shops, and a landfill. The Clinton Administration demonstrated its commitment to redeveloping Columbia’s abandoned industrial sites in July 1998 when it awarded the city with a $200,000 seed grant from the EPA to start transforming its brownfields into vital economic sectors.

Cowpens, South Carolina
Mayor William White
$500,000
Cowpens – the smallest city to receive one of the $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grants announced by the Vice President today -- will serve as a model for other small cities with limited resources to implement brownfields cleanup and redevelopment projects. Cowpens will encourage cleanup and redevelopment efforts with a focus on preserving the local environment, protecting the health of local residents, and helping establish and expand the city’s small businesses. Cowpens began working with the Clinton Administration to redevelop its brownfields in September 1997, when the city received a seed grant from the EPA to target and assess potential brownfields sites.

Texas
Austin, Texas
Mayor Kirk Watson
With the $500,000 grant announced today by the Vice President, Austin will leverage funds through the creation of a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund to clean up and redevelop three brownfields sites in East Austin – a predominantly industrial area that has become a magnet for illegal drug activities and illegal dumping of trash, construction debris, and hazardous waste. The Clinton Administration demonstrated its commitment to redeveloping Austin’s abandoned industrial sites in May 1998 when it awarded the city with a $200,000 seed grant to start transforming its brownfields into vital economic sectors.

Houston Community College System-Southeast College, Texas
Dean of Workforce Development Ed Socha
Houston Community College will use the $200,000 Brownfields Job Training and Development grant announced by the Vice President today to give 100 students the skills they need to assess and clean up brownfields. These students will then have the qualifications necessary to find good jobs to help clean up the 490 acres of brownfields in Houston.

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Washington
King County-City of Seattle, Washington
King County Executive Ron Sims
Seattle Mayor Paul Schell
King County will use the $147,500 Brownfields Job Training and Development grant announced by the Vice President today to provide 184 hours of training to 50 students -- recruited from distressed neighborhoods -- in environmental assessment and cleanup techniques and to help them find good-paying jobs. King County will focus on the Duwamish Corridor of Seattle which has more than 50 abandoned, contaminated industrial sites in need of cleanup and redevelopment.

West Virginia
Wheeling, West Virginia
City Manager Will A Turani
$500,000
Since open land available for development is scarce, the economic revitalization of Wheeling can only occur with the redevelopment of abandoned or dormant sites. With the $500,000 grant announced by the Vice President today, Wheeling will leverage resources to recreate integrated urban communities of commercial, manufacturing, and residential areas that share a safe and healthy environment. The revolving loan fund will provide low-interest loans to clean up and redevelop brownfields and spur economic revitalization. Wheeling has been working with the Administration to restore its brownfields since May 1998, when it received a $200,000 seed grant to identify and assess potential brownfields sites.

Wyoming
Evanston, Wyoming
Mayor Will Davis
With the $500,000 grant announced by the Vice President today, Evanston will create a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund to leverage funds to revitalize abandoned contaminated properties. Non-profit entities are likely to be interested in one of Evanston’s target sites -- a historic rail facility -- for clean up and redevelopment. Evanston and the Clinton Administration have been working together to revitalize its brownfields since July 1998 when the city was awarded an EPA seed grant to identify and assess possible brownfields sites.

Kemmerer, Wyoming
Mayor Jim Carroll
The $500,000 grant announced by the Vice President today will further Kemmerer’s overall brownfields objective of encouraging the economic redevelopment of brownfields; increasing the tax base through the reuse of idle property; creating job opportunities through the attraction of business/industry; and acting as a clearinghouse for brownfields redevelopment information. Kemmerer and the Clinton Administration started working together to redevelop abandoned industrial sites in May 1998 when the city received a EPA assessment grant to evaluate contamination at potential sites and formulate a cleanup and redevelopment plans.