Brownfields 2003 Grant Fact Sheet

Atchison, KS

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, President George W. Bush 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.

ASSESSMENT GRANT

$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the City of Atchison for a brownfields assessment grant. The city intends to use grant funds for Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments at several potentially contaminated sites along the Commercial Street Corridor and the riverfront, including an abandoned commercial property, a former dry cleaning facility, and a riverfront salvage yard. Grant funds also will be used for community involvement and redevelopment planning.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Atchison was selected to receive an assessment grant. Atchison (population 10,200) is a small, rural community located on the banks of the Missouri River in northeastern Kansas. The historic city was the second to be incorporated in Kansas, and once was home to some of the West's most famous companies, including the Pony Express and Overland Stage and Mail Company. By the early 1900s, the population boomed to 20,000. Due to a declining economy and a loss of businesses and jobs to other Western states, the city's population has declined by nearly half. The county's median household income is about 20 percent less than the national average. The city hopes that redevelopment of the Commercial Street Corridor sites into commercial outlets and a riverfront park will revitalize the downtown area, attracting new businesses and increasing tourism in time for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration on July 4, 2004.

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 7 Brownfields Team
913-551-7786
http://www.epa.gov/region7/cleanup/brownfields/index.htm

Grant Recipient: City of Atchison, KS
913-367-5500

Prior to receipt of these funds in fiscal year 2003, the City of Atchison has not received funding for brownfields grants.

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