LOCATION: 6539 4th Street, Marrero, La. (on West Bank of Jefferson Parish)

SIZE: 18 - acres, redevelopment plans for Family Life Center for Progressive Church

PREVIOUS USE: Auto salvage yard and undeveloped land

FUNDING MECHANISM : $200,000 EPA Brownfield Cleanup Grant; $300,000 RPC BCRLF; Louisiana Brownfield Tax Credit

AWARDS: Brownfields Excellence Award from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

SYNOPSIS: Progressive Church purchased the site from 2000 to 2003 to build a Family Life Center. Prior to purchase a Phase I ESA reported no environmental concerns, but a post - purchase complaint was filed with LDEQ, reporting asbestos trailings mixed with soil on the property. Subsequent testing in late 2004 revealed the presence of friable and non - friable asbestos in five samples. RPC provided funding for a new Phase I ESA and a Phase II investigation. Asbestos in soil was identified on the northern portion of the site, along with a limited area of lead and hydrocarbon contamination. Using a Brownfield cleanup grant from U.S. EPA and a loan from RPC's Brownfield Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund, Progressive Church entirely cleaned up the site under LDEQ's Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP) and received a transferable release of liability for past contamination of the site.