Brownfields Pilot Project

Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or underused industrial and commercial sites where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.

To assist the City of Tucson to develop strategies for assessing, cleaning up and reusing brownfield sites in a sustainable manner, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the City of Tucson a $400,000 Brownfields Pilot grant. As part of the pilot project, Environmental Services Engineering & Technical Support is conducting community outreach, completing Phase I and Phase II site assessments, and identifying funds for cleanup of sites within the following project areas:

• A: Warehouse Arts District
• B: Barrio Anita (Railroad Spur area)
• C: Downtown Commerce Park
• D: Rio Nuevo South
• E: Armory Park Neighborhood

Click here to see a map of the project areas.

Goals

The goals of the Brownfields Pilot Project include:

• involving residents in redevelopment planning;
• creating partnerships with other community and governmental agencies to promote brownfields redevelopment;
• developing a database of properties within the pilot project areas; and
• providing brownfields information to the community’s minority residents.

Rio Nuevo

The Brownfields Pilot Project also has undertaken to assist in the investigation of old landfills within the Rio Nuevo Project area. Those landfills must be made suitable for redevelopment in order for construction to begin. Environmental Services Engineering & Technical Support is conducting an innovative landfill stabilization project using brownfield pilot funds as well as other City funds.