Native Village Of Chuathbaluk

Starting on October 1, 2020, this program will no longer receive funding from EPA. Chuathbaluk will still be eligible in the future for funding if Brownfield redevelopment becomes a priority for the community. 

What is a Brownfield?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines a brownfield as real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.

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Another way to explain Brownfields is, they are abandoned, unused, or underused properties that cannot be reused or redeveloped because there is possible contamination. A brownfield can be anything from a 200-acre industrial property, to an old lumber mill, or a small abandoned electric plant.

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Why is it important to address Brownfields in your community?

Cleaning up brownfields can have positive health, environmental, social, and economic impacts on your community. Examples of benefits include: 

• Protecting plants, animals, and water on or around the site from contaminant exposure.

• Protecting community members from direct exposure to contamination, or indirect exposure through consuming contaminated food and water.

• Promoting community unity and gathering through redevelopment (for example, by building a new playground or community center, or restoring a subsistence area).

• Cleaning up and redeveloping a brownfield site is an opportunity for the community to create a vision and complete a project together!

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There are three (3) ingredients of a Brownfield:

1. Underutilized Land or Building

2. Known or Suspected Contamination

3. Plan to reuse the property

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Examples of Brownfields include:

• Old dumps

• Abandoned Electric Generators with hazardous materials

• Petroleum spills and old fuel storage areas

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Chuathbaluk Traditional Council TRP Goals:

The goal of this program is to inventory, assess, plan, and ultimately, to facilitate the cleanup of prioritized/pertinent Brownfields sites in a streamlined and cost-effective manner, thus reducing associated health issues.  Due diligence will focus on sites in and around Chuathbaluk that affect the Native Village of Chuathbaluk and neighboring villages either upstream or downstream from Chuathbaluk that may at any time be adversely affected by identified potential Brownfields sites. Additional goals include the building of partnerships with entities that possess a shared vision; a vision of environmental cleanup up of areas impacting traditional subsistence activities and the establishment of baseline data for potentially future use areas.  

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