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U.S. EPA AWARDS BAY AREA CITIES $300,000 FOR REVITALIZATION

Release Date: 6/13/1996
Contact Information: Lois Grunwald, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1588 Contact:

  (San Francisco) -- Vice President Al Gore and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) today announced that the city of San Francisco has been awarded $100,000 and the city of Richmond $200,000 to help fund the redevelopment of industrial sites, known as brownfields. San Francisco and Richmond are among 20 cities and government entities in the nation that today were added to the U.S. EPA's brownfields pilot program.  

     The cities will receive the funding over a two-year period and it will be used to revitalize contaminated properties and return them to thriving, productive use.

     "Brownfields projects bring together community leaders, investors, lenders, developers and citizens to work together and develop their own plans to turn economically abandoned areas into environmentally safe, economically attractive areas," said U.S. EPA Administrator Carol Browner.

     "In communities with brownfields, this program can bring about the general economic revitalization of neighborhoods that otherwise could not have gotten back on their feet," Browner added. "Everyone wins."

     "I am pleased that the cities of San Francisco and Richmond are being given funds to encourage the cleanup of contaminated industrial land and its return to productive community use," said Felicia Marcus, U.S. EPA's 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."  

     In San Francisco, the funds will be used to revitalize the Bayview/Hunter's Point neighborhood adjacent to the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, a federal Superfund site. Brownfields properties with known or suspected contamination will be addressed under the pilot project.

     Under its pilot project, San Francisco will evaluate the area's background information to identify potential chemical sources and pathways of human exposure; develop an area map illustrating areas of potential environmental concerns; review proposed land uses and develop appropriate cleanup levels for land use; conduct risk assessments and develop cleanup strategies; and, conduct meetings with community members and regulatory agencies to address environmental concerns associated with land use, zoning, economic development, and environmental justice.  

     The city of Richmond will redevelop its North Shoreline area. The grant will be used to conduct preliminary site assessments; develop financing mechanisms for cleanup; streamline the regulatory process to achieve cleanup; and begin education and outreach programs in the North Shoreline area.

     The addition of San Francisco and Richmond brings to five the number of brownfields pilot projects in California. The others are in the cities of Emeryville, Stockton, and Sacramento. The U.S. EPA is working with the city of East Palo Alto on its brownfields' project in the Ravenswood area. In addition, U.S. EPA has assigned personnel to both Los Angeles and East Palo Alto to support brownfields activities in these cities. U.S. EPA is also working with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control to streamline regulations for addressing cleanup at brownfields properties.

      Under the pilots projects -- which now total 60 nationwide -- the community and developers will work together to restore 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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