Brownfields Update for the Pacific Northwest

For the small town of Snohomish, Wash., possible contamination on land the city was developing into a public trail system could have been enough to throw the project off course for several months. The city was working on completing its Riverfront and Centennial trails, which together provide a mile of paved trails through the town. Part of the trail runs along a railroad line, which brought concerns about possible fuel contaminates. The city needed to know what, if any, contamination had taken place.

Luckily for Snohomish, it qualified for a targeted brownfields assessment (TBA). A TBA is a study conducted by the EPA to determine the nature and extent of contamination. The TBA covers the cost of the assessment and uses contractors hired by the EPA. The TBA found some contamination along the trails but nothing above required cleanup levels. The TBA saved the city about $52,000.

“The targeted brownfields assessment was a wonderful tool,” says Ann Caley, project manager for the city’s public works department. “Being a small city, we not only didn’t have the funds, but we also didn’t have the manpower.”

Plus, the city now has a thorough report documenting the history of that area. “We have a valuable resource for the planning department,” Caley says. “It’s an amazing historic record.”

If the city hadn’t applied for the TBA, it would’ve proceeded with soil sampling, taking funding away from the development and acquisition phases, and slowing the project down, Caley says. “It was truly helpful, truly beneficial to us,” she says. “The TBA has helped us move forward.”

A TBA is an underused resource, says Joanne LaBaw, the EPA’s TBA coordinator for Region 10. Last year, LaBaw did about five or six of the assessments. “We’d love to do more,” she says.

A TBA can cover many different things; each is customized to a user’s request. If requested, the assessment can include an analysis of options and cost estimates associated with the options. Assessment work is conducted by environmental consultants already under contract with EPA. TBAs have been done for various amounts of money. “They can be very flexible,” LaBaw says of the TBA.

The assessments are available to public, quasi-public and nonprofit entities interested in redeveloping abandoned or underutilized properties. Redevelopment can involve the creation of commercial, industrial, recreational or conservation uses. To qualify for an assessment, there must be a potential release of hazardous substances at the site. The property also can’t be either a superfund site or a federal facility. The project must show it will have public benefits to be eligible. LaBaw also prefers not to work on a site that’s under a cleanup order.

TBAs can be an alternative to a brownfields assessment grant, and they can save a project time compared to a grant. When LaBaw approves an application, it usually takes about three to four weeks to move forward. The TBA then can be completed within a couple of months. With a grant, applicants who submit a grant application in mid-December won’t know if they’re awarded the grant until summer. Also, someone who applies for an assessment grant is competing with hundreds of projects. That’s not the case with a TBA. LaBaw usually recommends a TBA over a grant if the applicant has one particular issue that needs to be looked at.

SouthEast Effective Development (SEED) in Seattle has used TBAs in its Rainier Court project. A mixed-use development on 7 acres of contaminated land, Rainier Court will have 500 housing units and 15,000 square feet of retail and commercial space when completed. The EPA has helped SEED identify the contaminates in that project. The TBAs used have added up to about $500,000 over two years, says Pat Chemnick, economic development manager for SEED. EPA has been flexible in working with SEED, allowing the TBAs to be done in phases as the project continues to move forward, Chemnick says.

“It was incredible the number of different things they test for. The data is very, very thorough,” Chemnick says. “(The TBA) saves you a lot of headaches and money. It’s valuable – it’s extremely valuable.”

Chemnick also sings the praises of the EPA. Many people are turned off by the idea of working with a federal agency because of the potential bureaucracy involved, Chemnick says. That’s never been the case. She describes the EPA as “customer oriented” and “user friendly.”

Jim Stevens, director of campus services at Lake Washington Technical College in Kirkland, Wash., echoes Chemnick when talking about working with the EPA. LaBaw was helpful throughout the TBA process, he says. The technical college received a $50,000 TBA for its Redmond campus. A Nike Missile Base formerly sat on the 2-acre campus. Built around 1960, the concrete-and-steel structure that once held nuclear-tipped missiles was a relic of the Cold War era, used to protect Boeing. College officials didn’t know what they were up against when looking into possible contamination. However, the TBA found little contamination. A 20,000-square-foot academic building has been built in its place.

Had the technical college not qualified for the TBA, that money would’ve come out of construction money, Stevens says. He’s grateful for programs like the TBA. “This program is about helping people to assess what the problems are,” he says.

For more information about the TBA program, call LaBaw at 206-553-2594.