Hazardous Substance Research Centers/South & Southwest

Site description
The City of Augusta was awarded a Brownfields Pilot in June 1999. Augusta is the second largest city (next to Atlanta) in Georgia. It is also home to a number of industrial factories, many of which are situated either in or near the Hyde Park neighborhood. The pilot targets the 10.8-acre Goldberg Brothers' Salvage Yard located at the main entrance to Hyde Park. The site was operated as a salvage yard from the mid 1940s until 1998 when the site was closed. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) first became involved with the site in 1991 during a compliant inspection. Currently, the EPD is conducting limited site sampling and waste removal. The EPD and the brownfield team are working together to maximize the information gathered by each effort. The site is presently unoccupied and is covered by surface debris including scrap metal, tires, wire bales, and trash.

Organization requesting assistance
Hyde Park & Aragon Park Improvement Comm. Inc.

Summary of TAB assistance
In January 2001, the Hyde Park & Aragon Park Improvement Comm. Inc. and the Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities (TAB) entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). In the MOA, it was agreed that TAB will perform the following services, as needed:

Review, evaluate, and interpret technical documents prepared for the site; these technical documents will include environmental site assessments, sampling plans, and analytical results;
Review and interpret other technical documents and materials;
Offer workshops and learning opportunities to explain science and technology policy and operations; and
Provide technical assistance materials or sources of information such as pamphlets, manuals, and visual software detailing site investigation and clean up matters pertinent to the issues affecting the municipality/community as well as redevelopment potential for the properties.

To date, TAB personnel have attended the brownfield commission meetings and reviewed the scope of work for the consultant's environmental assessment. As the project progresses, TAB personnel will continue to stay involved in an effort to empower the community in its redevelopment of the Goldberg Brothers' property.

TAB worked with the City to finalize TAB's participation in a workshop scheduled for the Spring of 2002.

In June 2003, Augusta was awarded an additional $200,000 under EPA's brownfield program for performing environmental site assessments on additional abandoned property in Hyde Park, and for outreach, reuse planning, and to expand the existing geographic information system brownfields inventory. A quarterly seminar is scheduled for late May or early June, and TAB anticipates providing assistance as additional sampling in the community begins.