City to assess 'brownfields'
By Deborah Bennett

This former gas station located on Winthrope Avenue is one of the potential brownfield sites to be evaluated by the City of Millen through the Brownfields Assessment Grant program. (Staff photo by Deborah Bennett)

Every city has them, abandoned gas stations and other contaminated sites that detract from the surrounding landscape and create health or safety problems. They are "brownfields."

The City of Millen is the recipient of a $200,000 Brownfields Assessment Grant that will assist the municipality in dealing with the problem.

Under the Brownfields Law, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides financial assistance to applicants to identify and evaluate sites and develop solutions that would rehabilitate the properties. The City of Millen will use the funds it has been awarded to perform approximately 10 Phase I and approximately five Phase II environmental site assessments. Funds also will be used for cleanup planning.

Linda Grijalva, C.S.R.A. Regional Development Center planning and development specialist, said the locations of the potential sites would be made public once the property owners have been notified.

A brownfield site is property whose expansion or redevelopment may be complicated by the presence of hazardous substances. Many of the city's brownfield sites are aban- doned properties that were originally used for light industrial or commercial purposes. They include gas stations, manufacturing shops and machine shops. Most are located on rural roads or within the main corridor of the city.

During its Tuesday, Feb. 6, meeting, Millen City Council awarded the engineering contract for evaluating potential Phase II sites to Hart and Hickman of Charlotte, N.C. Ms. Grijalva explained that the engineering firm will drill and conduct tests at each potential site to determine the degree of contamination, if any, and report its findings to the city.

The EPA places contaminated properties on one of three lists based on level of contamination. Sites on the National Priorities list have extreme levels of contamination and are rarely redeveloped. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Information System list contains sites with high levels of contamination and could be put on the National Priorities list. The third list consists of sites where no further EPA action is planned. These properties could possibly be redeveloped.

In addition to the Brownfields Assessment Grant program, the EPA provides financial assistance through three additional programs: revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants and job training grants.