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U.S. EPA ANNOUNCES AWARD OF OAKLAND BROWNFIELDS PILOT PROJECT

Release Date: 10/1/1996
Contact Information: Lois Grunwald, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1588

   (San Francisco) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) today announced that it has awarded the city of Oakland $100,000 for redevelopment of industrial sites, known as brownfields. Oakland is one of 76 cities nationwide that U.S. EPA has selected to participate in the pilot redevelopment project. The city will receive the funding over a two-year period and it will use the funds to revitalize contaminated properties and return them to thriving, productive use.

     "We're pleased to have awarded this grant to the city of Oakland to encourage the cleanup of contaminated industrial land and its return to productive community use," said Felicia Marcus, U.S. EPA regional administrator. "We firmly believe that environmental cleanup can bring life and strength to a community through jobs, an enhanced tax base, and vision for the community's future. I thank Oakland for its leadership and look forward to our parternship."

     In Oakland, the $100,000 will be used to revitalize a two- acre site in city's Central District Redevelopment Area and a 17- acre site in east Oakland's Coliseum Redevelopment area. During the past two decades, over 20,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in the Coliseum area due to plant closures and relocations. More than 600 acres in this area have been vacated or are under- used, and over 700 acres have been identified as having known or suspected contamination.

     Activities planned as part of the pilot will be reviewing existing data on the two sites and completing site assessments; completing surveys, plans and summary reports; and developing cleanup plans and cost estimates.

     Under this pilot, communities and developers will work together to restore the abandoned sites, thereby creating new jobs and economic growth, increasing property values and stimulating tax revenues. All of the national pilots will feature cooperative efforts between diverse community groups, investors, lenders, developers, regulators and other interested parties.


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