Brownfields Program Achievements 

Linked to Early Success 

I Brownfields Program 

n 1993, EPA established the Brownfields Redevelopment Initiative, 

a pilot program through which local governments could apply for federal 

funds to inventory and assess brownfields and create the partnerships 

necessary to address barriers to reuse. Through the Initiative, EPA 

awarded its first Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Award 

to Cuyahoga County, Ohio, in 1993. In 1994, EPA awarded Brownfields 

Assessment Pilots to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Richmond, Virginia. 

The success of these early pilots is demonstrated through the 

Program’s expansion; EPA has since awarded 880 assessment grants 

totaling more than $225 million, 202 revolving loan fund grants totaling 

$186.7 million, and 238 cleanup grants totaling $42.7 million. On 

average, EPA has found that every public dollar spent on brownfields 

leverages $2.50 in private investment and every acre of brownfields 

reused saves 4.5 acres of greenspace. 

While these impressive figures offer one measure of EPA’s 

Brownfields Program success, the stories of communities that have 

demonstrated economic revitalization, improved institutional capacity, 

and strengthened redevelopment processes also illustrate the widereaching impact of brownfields restoration. For Cuyahoga County, 

Ohio; Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Richmond, Virginia—the first 

recipients of EPA Brownfields funding—the benefits are measurable 

and lasting. 

Cuyahoga County, Ohio: Continuous Redevelopment Achievements 

Cuyahoga County has long been associated with industrialization and 

now has more than 40,000 acres designated at a higher risk for 

environmental contamination. Today, the county has an estimated 

inventory of 1,800 brownfields covering more than 4,600 acres. By 

2015, Cuyahoga County will become the first fully developed county in 

Ohio, leaving no alternative but redevelopment of its brownfields. 

Recognizing the need to assess, clean up, and redevelop brownfields to 

improve the economic climate within Cuyahoga County, EPA awarded 

the first ever Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot to the 

County in 1993. Targeting three brownfields, the Pilot award proved 

very effective. One property, the Sunar Hauserman project, leveraged 

$4.2 million in public and private funds for environmental cleanup and 

property improvements. The site became a home for several new 

businesses that provided 181 jobs and generated more than $1 million in 

annual revenue. 

The Pilot allowed the Cuyahoga County Department of Development to 

demonstrate concrete results associated with brownfields cleanups, 

such as increased tax revenue and the redevelopment of blighted 

property, to local officials. In response, the Board of County 

continued • 

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The Ballpark at Harbor Yard, formerly the Jenkins 

Valve site, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. 

JUST THE FACTS: • Since the Brownfields Program’s 

inception, EPA has awarded 880 

assessment grants totaling more than 

$225 million, 202 revolving loan fund 

grants totaling $186.7 million, and 238 

cleanup grants totaling $42.7 million. 

• On average, EPA has found that 

every public dollar spent on 

brownfields leverages $2.50 in private 

investment and every acre of 

brownfields reused saves 4.5 acres of 

pristine greenspace. 

• As of July 2006, EPA Brownfields 

grants had leveraged approximately 

$8.5 billion in additional assessment, 

cleanup, and redevelopment funding 

from the public and private sectors, 

and leveraged more than 39,000 jobs. 

“The best part of receiving 

EPA funding is that we clean up 

contaminated property, redevelop it 

for productive use, and put it back on 

the tax rolls... [Bridgeport has advanced] 

light years beyond where it was 13 

years ago [in its ability to 

address brownfields]”. 

—Richard McHugh, 

Senior Economic Development Associate

 City of Bridgeport, Connecticut 
Commissioners issued a $15 million bond establishing the Brownfield Redevelopment Fund. The Fund 

combines funding from the original bond with local, state, and federal sources to assess and clean up 

brownfields. Up to 45 percent of the funding can be designated as a forgivable loan to level the playing field 

to make development on brownfields cost competitive with untouched greenfields.

 Cuyahoga County received one Revolving Loan Fund Pilot and four grants from EPA between 1997 and 

2006. The County has evaluated, refined, and shared its brownfields redevelopment strategies, becoming a 

mentor to communities seeking similar results. After extending the 45 percent forgiveness provision of its 

Brownfield Redevelopment Fund to private entities, the County saw the number of brownfields projects 

that received funding double between 2004 and 2005 and maintain that higher level in 2006. Tracey Nichols, 

the County’s Assistant Director for Economic Development, explains, “It is critically important to 

reevaluate and evolve our program, as well as have access to funding, to guide companies through the 

brownfields redevelopment process.” 

From 1993 to 2006, funding leveraged from EPA grants totaled $8.45 million in Cuyahoga County. With an 

increase in property values of $15.5 million and annual property taxes of $563,000 attributed to brownfields 

cleanups between 1993 and 2006, Cuyahoga County has demonstrated marked and continuous 

achievements in brownfields redevelopment. 

Bridgeport, Connecticut: Growing Institutional Capacity 

Between 1984 and 1994, Bridgeport lost approximately 50 percent of its manufacturing base, and industrial 

employment has dropped steadily in each of the last three decades. Many businesses abandoned the city, 

leaving behind hundreds of acres that remained unused due to the presence or threat of contamination. 

To assist Bridgeport with overcoming its legacy of contaminated land, EPA awarded the city a Brownfields 

Assessment Pilot in 1994. Through this Pilot and subsequent efforts, the city established an inventory of 

more than 200 brownfields. For one of these sites, the Jenkins Valve property, the city leveraged $14 million 

from private, city, and state sources to clean up and redevelop the site into the Ballpark at Harbor Yard, a 

5,500-seat ballpark for the Bridgeport Bluefish independent league baseball team. The property is now a 

welcoming gateway to the city, replacing a former eyesore. Through this project alone, the city leveraged 

361 jobs, 68 of which are permanent. 

Bridgeport has also received supplemental assistance funding from EPA, a Revolving Loan Fund Pilot, and 

six Brownfields grants; two additional grants were announced in 2006. In total, EPA funding has helped to 

leverage more than 500 jobs and $73 million for cleanup and redevelopment. Bridgeport has significantly 

refined its institutional capacity to redevelop brownfields, resulting in faster and more targeted cleanup 

efforts, as well as helping to make Bridgeport a front-runner in brownfields cleanup in New England. The 

City of Bridgeport was one of the first in the nation to seek local input and involve multiple stakeholders in 

the redevelopment process, to revitalize whole communities rather than parcels of land. Richard McHugh, a 

Bridgeport Senior Economic Development Associate, credits EPA with helping Bridgeport “advance lightyears beyond where it was 13 years ago” in its ability to tackle brownfields development projects. “The 

best part of receiving EPA funding,” he explains, “is that we clean up contaminated property, redevelop it 

for productive use, and put it back on the tax rolls.” 

Richmond, Virginia: Leader in Outreach, Process, and Collaboration 

Richmond, Virginia, has experienced disinvestment and decline in its older industrial areas and neighboring 

communities, leaving vacant and underutilized commercial and industrial properties behind. Richmond’s 

Real Estate Services Office estimates that there are 16 large and nearly 100 smaller brownfields, 

encompassing 190 acres in the city. In 2005, the Office projected that the redevelopment of these 

properties could result in approximately $100 million in tax revenues and 1,000 new full-time jobs. 

In 1994, EPA selected the City of Richmond as a National Brownfields Assessment Pilot recipient. The 

Pilot focused on developing a means to inventory and market its brownfields and identify and mitigate 

financial barriers to redevelopment. These initial efforts were realized when the City of Richmond 

performed 15 Phase I site assessments as well as 7 Phase II and specialized site assessments under the 

umbrella of a 1997 Brownfields Pilot Site Assessment Grant. An additional four Phase I assessments were 

continued • 

Brownfields Success Story 

Brownfields Program Achievements 

Solid Waste 

and Emergency 

Response (5105T) 

EPA-560-F-06-267 

October 2006 

www.epa.gov/brownfields/ 

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performed under a 2004 Brownfields Site Assessment Grant for Petroleum sites. These assessments have 

provided Richmond with a growing inventory of site information on the City’s brownfields properties. 

The City of Richmond has also become a state leader in petroleum-related brownfields redevelopment 

following its receipt of a 2004 EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant for petroleum. The resulting process 

became the model for the Virginia Petroleum Storage Tank Fund Reimbursement Guidance Manual, 

providing uniform guidance to state regional offices. Andrew Kreider, an EPA Brownfields Project Officer, 

describes Richmond’s process leadership as a testament to EPA Pilots: “Richmond built up its system and is 

now leading other grantees throughout Virginia.” 

Richmond, under the leadership of Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, has further streamlined its 

overall brownfields redevelopment process by capitalizing on its inventory of assessed 

sites and using a layered incentive package. The city is able to redevelop more 

CONTACTS: brownfields each year by “talking with businesses early in the redevelopment 

process and providing benefits that cannot be found at greenfield sites,” explains 

Lisbeth Coker, of the Richmond Department of Economic Development. 

For more information contact Overall, Richmond’s brownfields restoration efforts have leveraged more than 

U.S.EPA-REGION 1 - (617) 573-5770 $77 million and 300 jobs. EPA’s support has allowed the city to develop 

U.S.EPA-REGION 3 - (215) 597-9800 outreach, process, and collaboration strengths that will continue to lead 

U.S.EPA-REGION 5 - (312) 353-8510 Richmond and other Virginia cities to successful brownfields redevelopment. 

Progress Made Within the Brownfields Program

Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at: Since its inception in 1995, EPA’s Brownfields Program has grown into a 

http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ proven, results-oriented program that has changed the way contaminated 

property is perceived, addressed, and managed. As of July 2006, EPA funding had 

leveraged approximately $8.5 billion in additional funding and more than 39,000 jobs. 

Through the 2002 passage of the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields 

Revitalization Act, known as the Brownfields Law, many of the policies tested through the 

Program’s Pilot projects were passed into law. In addition to increasing authorized funding for Brownfields 

Grants to $250 million annually, the Law expanded the definition of brownfields to include mine-scarred lands 

and properties contaminated by controlled substances, as well as the entities, activities, and properties eligible 

for funding—including lower-risk, petroleum-contaminated sites. 

Between 2002 and 2004, the Brownfields Program established sector-based initiatives to focus on Portfields, 

mine-scarred lands, Railfields, USTfields (underground storage tanks), and Resource Conservation and 

Recovery Act (RCRA) Brownfields prevention. By focusing on similar types of sites within each sector, 

these initiatives are enabling EPA to promote brownfields cleanup in economically critical sectors, facilitate 

information sharing, and speed redevelopment of these properties. Sector-based initiatives replicate the type 

of long-term success seen in early Pilot communities, leveraging existing networks, institutional capacity, and 

proven process improvements. These initiatives help promote sustainable community capacity to redevelop 

brownfields, which is a key factor to achieving lasting brownfields redevelopment efforts. 

EPA’s Brownfields Program will continue to be a significant component of the local brownfield 

redevelopment process because of its ability to leverage measurable and significant benefits. With its proven 

history of success and the passage of the Brownfields Law, the Program has reduced or eliminated many 

barriers to redevelopment, and more organizations are willing to address brownfields than ever before. Since 

1995, the Program has leveraged the cleanup of nearly 600 brownfields across the country. 

With a growing national focus on revitalization, brownfields redevelopment has become an important tool for 

cities to return idle or underused property to productive use. In particular, historically industrial cities that 

have endured long-term economic decline in recent decades are funding new opportunities in brownfields 

redevelopment. As early grant recipients Cuyahoga County, Bridgeport, and Richmond demonstrate, EPA 

funding has been a critical component to developing self-sustaining local programs that can change a city’s 

legacy of industrial contamination from a hindrance into an opportunity for economic revitalization. For more 

information on EPA’s Brownfields Program, visit: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields. 

Brownfields Success Story 

Brownfields Program Achievements 

Solid Waste 

and Emergency 

Response (5105T) 

EPA-560-F-06-267 

October 2006 

www.epa.gov/brownfields/ 

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