Land Revitalization Fact Sheet

Revitalization in

Auto Sector Communities

New Environmental Solutions

EPA’s land revitalization initiatives are producing significant environmental benefits 

and helping to transform communities into more sustainable and livable places. 

The strategy of encouraging market-driven redevelopment of brownfields and 

other contaminated sites for economic reuse is proving to be a successful 

approach at many sites. However, challenging real estate markets and economic 

realities can leave some formerly contaminated properties unused, possibly for 

a long time. New approaches are needed to revitalize these sites and protect 

human health and the environment.

EPA’s Land Revitalization Team is working with communities, states, other EPA programs, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector to develop and test new approaches that recognize valuable reuses of properties. The 

2009 GM and Chrysler bankruptcies added more than 8,700 acres and 60 million 

square feet of vacant commercial/industrial property to the nation’s brownfield and 

vacant property inventories. EPA is working closely with communities impacted by 

the downturn in the auto manufacturing sector to address the economic and environmental challenges these properties represent to these communities. 

Unlocking the potential value of these underused properties often requires 

creativity and close collaboration with many public and private partners. The 

revitalization of former manufacturing facilities can help stabilize communities 

and spur economic development.

I

n response to the severe economic 

impacts of the General Motors (GM) 

Corporation and Chrysler Corporation 

bankruptcies, the White House established 

an Auto Sector Community Recovery 

Initiative to bring targeted government 

resources to the industries, communities, 

and states impacted. EPA, the Departments of Labor, Energy, Transportation, 

Housing and Urban Development, and 

other federal agencies are investing resources in the recovery effort. EPA is working with its federal partners, states, local 

governments, and the bankrupt corporations to assess and quantify environmental 

conditions, define liabilities, and identify 

potential cleanup and reuse options for 

former auto industry properties. 

With nearly 80 percent of the former GM 

and Chrysler sites located in the states of 

Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, EPA Region 5 is leading the way in planning for 

the cleanup and revitalization of these 

properties. EPA also is assisting communities in other parts of the country where 

abandoned auto dealerships and other 

properties are left vacant in the wake 

of the auto sector bankruptcies. In the 

case of many of the former GM properties, the federal government provided 

for the ownership of the properties to be 

transferred to an Environmental Response 

Trust. The Trust will receive some federal 

funding to address environmental conditions at these former GM properties. EPA 

will work closely with the Trustee in charge 

of the trust and with the affected communities to clean up these properties 

and plan for their reuse.

Dayton Transforms Former GM Plant into New Tech Town Aerospace Hub

EPA Region 5 is working with the City 

of Dayton and the State of Ohio to 

address environmental challenges and 

regulatory barriers to the cleanup 

and reuse of the former GM Harrison 

Plant. The property is located just 

east of downtown Dayton. With EPA’s 

assistance, and funding and assistance from the State of Ohio, the 

City of Dayton is well on its way to 

realizing its vision for the site—turning the 30-acre former auto radiator plant into Tech Town, an urban 

technology campus. 

Tech Town is the centerpiece of Dayton’s new Aerospace Hub of Innovation 

& Opportunity—a state designation 

that targets aerospace and advanced 

materials technologies companies 

within the hub for state regulatory, funding, and technical assistance. The Tech 

Town business park is expected to with 

more than a dozen buildings encompassing up to 400,000 square feet of 

office and manufacturing space and 

support 2,500 jobs. 

 The cleanup and redevelopment of 

this property presents environmental 

challenges, in part because of complicated regulatory issues related to the 

cleanup of contamination at the site. 

Old GM, the primary party responsible 

for contamination at the property, 

ceased all remedial activity at the 

property when it filed for bankruptcy. 

GM was conducting corrective action 

and closure activities under the federal 

Resource Conservation and Recovery 

Act (RCRA) at the time of its bankruptcy. 

To ensure the availability of state 

funding for the property and facilitate 

state oversight of the cleanup of the 
United States Office of Solid Waste and EPA 560-F-11-004

Environmental Protection Emergency Response April 2011

Agency (5105T) www.epa.gov/brownfields/

Texas Community Develops Vision for Revitalization of

Abandoned Auto Dealerships

More Information:

Visit EPA Region 5’s Brownfields web site for information about the Regional Auto Sector Recovery Workgroup, at http://www.epa.gov/

region5brownfields/

Visit EPA’s Land Revitalization program website at http://www.epa.gov/landrevitalization/

Illustration of proposed Dayton 

Tech Town.

Once a sign of a thriving economy, 

local automobile dealerships in many 

communities closed following the GM 

and Chrysler bankruptcies. As a result, 

many highly visible and centrally 

located properties are left vacant. 

Many of these properties may pose 

environmental, as well as economic, 

challenges for the communities where 

they are located. 

With funding from EPA’s Office of 

Brownfields and Land Revitalization, 

EPA Region 6 is implementing a pilot 

program to assist the City of Leon 

Valley, Texas, plan for the sustainable 

redevelopment of several abandoned 

automobile dealerships. Most of the 

former dealerships may be contaminated and have underground storage tanks. Likely contaminants include 

solvents, heavy metals, petroleum, or 

asbestos-containing materials. These 

properties will require assessment and 

may need remediation before they can 

be reused for other purposes. 

Working together with the local governments, regional councils of governments, 

and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, EPA Region 6 is helping 

the residents of Leon Valley identify and 

develop sustainable redevelopment 

models for these. 

EPA is providing assistance for a series of 

community planning charrettes. A community planning charrette is a collaborative design workshop that actively involves 

stakeholders groups—including residents, 

government officials, developers, and 

businesses—in developing a vision for 

future use of a property or area. 

This pilot program enables the community to be an active partner and work 

with economic developers, former 

dealership owners, planners, environmental groups, and others to develop 

sustainable redevelopment models for 

each former dealership. 

EPA also will help the community leverage resources to assist with assessment and cleanup of the abandoned 

auto dealership sites. Once the auto 

dealership properties are assessed and 

cleaned up, these communities can 

move forward with the implementation 

of a community revitalization vision 

and economic recovery. 

property, EPA Region 5 deferred its 

regulatory oversight of the Tech Town 

property to Ohio’s Voluntary Action 

Program. One important result of 

this action is that the City of Dayton 

now can use Clean Ohio Fund monies to address contamination at the 

property. This action also facilitated 

the growing partnership between the 

state regulatory program and the City 

of Dayton as they work in tandem to 

revitalize this important property.

In addition to the regulatory flexibility provided to the City of Dayton, 

EPA’s Office of Brownfields and Land 

Revitalization provided Dayton with 

$200,000 of Targeted Brownfields Assessment (TBA) assistance to conduct 

environmental assessment activities 

at the property. The City of Dayton 

used this assistance for site characterization and assessment activities, 

as well as remedial planning activities 

at the property. 

Dayton’s Tech Town redevelopment got 

a significant boost in December 2010, 

when the State of Ohio and the federal government reached a settlement 

agreement with the former General 

Motors Corporation, now named Motors 

Liquidation Corporation, or MLC. Under 

the terms of the settlement agreement, 

MLC will provide more than $5.3 million 

for cleanup efforts at the Tech Town site, 

which includes the land once occupied 

by the GM Harrison Radiator plant. These 

cleanup dollars will go to the State of 

Ohio to assist the City of Dayton in conducting cleanup activities at the site. 

This money is in addition to $39 million in 

cleanup funds that MLC and the federal 

government announced for Ohio in 

October 2010 under the bankruptcy reorganization and settlement agreements 

with MLC. The settlement agreements 

are part of a liquidation plan filed by 

MLC. That plan and the settlement 

agreements must be approved by the 

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern 

District of New York. Court approval of 

the liquidation plan is expected in the 

first half of 2011.