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U.S. EPA HELPS EAST PALO ALTO REVITALIZE ITS INDUSTRIAL AREA

Release Date: 2/5/1996
Contact Information: Will Bruhns, SFRWQCB , (510) 286-0838 Paula Bruin, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1587 Jerry Groomes, City of East Palo Alto, (415) 853-3136

RELEASED JOINTLY BY THE U.S. EPA, CITY OF EAST PALO ALTO AND THE SAN FRANCISCO REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL BOARD

     (San Francisco)--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) today announced it will help East Palo Alto, Calif., revitalize its community by assisting in the city's efforts to redevelop the Ravenswood Industrial Area.  

     "We will be working closely with the city, affected property owners, the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board and the community of East Palo Alto to help them assess, clean up and redevelop Ravenswood," said Felicia Marcus, U.S. EPA's Regional Administrator.  "We firmly believe that environmental cleanup is a building block to economic revitalization and that restoring contaminated property can go hand in hand with bringing life and strength to a community."

     During the next three weeks, U.S. EPA will conduct soil and groundwater testing at the 130-acre site located on the San Francisco Bay to determine the extent of contamination.  The investigation is part of U.S. EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative to find ways to return abandoned or industrial urban sites to productive community use and create new job opportunities.

      The investigation, developed by U.S. EPA and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board staff, incorporates and builds upon existing data and work plans produced by the property owners in the area.  Soil and groundwater sampling will be collected on almost every property.  The results will be used to help the city in its redevelopment efforts.

     "We are really excited to have U.S. EPA sponsor this investigation," said Loretta Barsamian, the Regional Board's Executive Officer.  "Redevelopment efforts in East Palo Alto have been hampered due in part to the belief that the area has been widely contaminated by over 70 years of industrial and agricultural uses.  This investigation will produce data necessary to identify which properties have contamination problems, what types of problems those are, and give us a general idea of future remediation costs."

     "We see Ravenswood as a key to developing a sound economic base in East Palo Alto," said Rose Gibson, Mayor of East Palo Alto.  "Redevelopment of the area will create much needed jobs and produce a tax base necessary to maintain the community.  The perception that the area has wide-spread contamination has been a real obstacle to redevelopment.  This investigation will produce reliable information to determine what the conditions are out there.  Working together as a team, I believe we can put Ravenswood on the fast track."
     
     U.S. EPA initiated the Brownfield Program to encourage the development of urban properties or brownfields and to discourage the siting of future industrial sites in more pristine rural areas, or greenfields.  The initiative also addresses the concerns of prospective developers and lenders who are afraid they might inherit cleanup liability for property contaminated or perceived to be contaminated.

     Communities, developers, and regulatory agencies are working together through the Brownfields pilot projects to restore industrial properties and thereby create new jobs and economic growth, increase property values, stimulate tax revenues, and rejuvenate neighborhoods.  All these efforts feature cooperative efforts between diverse community groups, investors, lenders, developers, regulators, and other interested parties.
 
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