mobile, al

City of Mobile - Africatown EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant

EPA awarded the City of Mobile a 2020 Brownfields Assessment Grant for the Africatown Community. The grant funds were targeted for development of a community involvement plan (CIP) and quality assurance project plan (QAPPs), completion of Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs), and development of Analysis of Brownfield Cleanup Alternatives (ABCA).

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
REMEDIATION AND CONTRACTING
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

Project Description

Africatown comprises a total of 1,873 acres. There are three priority sites designated for the Phase I and Phase II assessments, including the former Pekin Manufacturing Plant (now Josephine Allen Housing, 40 acres), Clotilda-Landing Truck Repair (2-acres) and Lewis Landing – Auto Repair (1.8 acres).  Additional sites were determined during the development of the Africatown Brownfields Site Inventory and GIS Database.

Services Provided by CERM:   CERM services for this project include grant management, community outreach, Phase I and Phase II assessments, and site-specific cleanup planning.  Grant management consisted of quarterly reporting, annual reporting, ACRES uploads, financial reimbursement request support; grant compliance reporting; and project closeout. Since Africatown is a historical community with a number of federal investment projects underway in partnership with the active network of Africatown Community organizations, CERM was charged with educating the community about the activities to take place under this Brownfields assessment grant, including managing expectations, obtaining feedback from the community to align the assessment and potential development activities with the Africatown Neighborhood Plan, and promoting unity of the Africatown Community with the City of Mobile and Mobile County Government in order to align future economic development investments.

CERM has provided the following services to meet the goals and objectives of the EPA grant: 1) grant reporting and administration; 2) development of a GIS database of brownfield sites and a site priority ranking matrix; 3) completion of six Phase I ESAs and two Phase II ESAs; 4) development of a CIP and SSQAPPs, and 5) development of two ABCAs.  CERM has held numerous community engagement meetings throughout the life of the grant.

Project Highlights

  •  Quarterly and Annual Grant Reporting in EPA ACRES
  • Community Mitigation and Stakeholder Engagement
  • Site-Specific Quality Assurance Project Plans
  • Phase I and Phase II Site Assessments
  • Analysis of Brownfield Cleanup Alternatives

Client/Owner: City of Mobile/EPA

Markets: Federal