Alaska Outlook
By John Carnahan, Sonja Benson and Deborah Williams

Working with Brownfields in Alaska presents its own unique challenges. Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s Reuse and Redevelopment (R&R) Program believes the future of Brownfield revitalization in rural areas lies with its close coordination with the Tribal Response Programs (TRPs) that service many parts of the state. The R&R Program will continue to focus much of its efforts on outreach and education, technical assistance to TRPs in building capacity, and help with applying for state and federal Brownfield assessment services. Additionally, in order to see longer term success, we hope to see a State-sponsored Brownfield redevelopment fund similar to that found in some other states. We would also like to see individual Alaska Tribes eligible for the EPA competitive Brownfield grants. We will continue to use state resources to conduct site assessments and cleanups on state-owned properties, which are a ubiquitous Brownfield presence in many rural communities. We have completed numerous projects at old schools and airport sites by working with other State agencies and rural school districts. Our focus is to make the underutilized and contaminated lands and abandoned buildings environmentally sound and available for beneficial reuse by the local communities.

Idaho Program Celebrates its Successes
By Aaron Scheff, Brownfields Program Manager

During its 6½ year partnership with EPA Region 10, Idaho’s Brownfields Response Program conducted site specific assessments at Brownfields sites totaling nearly 1,200 acres.  Over 260 of these acres were cleared for redevelopment with no further action required.  An additional 490 acres were cleared for redevelopment through cleanup and/or environmental covenants and the rest are either in Idaho’s Voluntary Cleanup Program or awaiting additional assessment or risk evaluation.  Idaho’s 128(a) assessment costs represent 66% of all Brownfields assessment funding in Idaho while the acres assessed by Idaho’s 128(a) program account for 86% of acres assessed in Idaho utilizing some sort of Brownfields funding.  Further analysis shows that Idaho’s 128(a) response program assessments are completed three to five times faster than assessments funded through other programs, at one third the cost per acre assessed.

Since the Brownfields Program is essentially a redevelopment program, the above analysis shows that Idaho’s 128(a) program, in concert with excellent programmatic support from EPA Region 10,  is capable of responding to the assistance needs of those seeking to redevelop Brownfields in a timely and cost effective manner.  The program also conducts extensive outreach to Idaho communities to assist with their redevelopment planning and implementation needs.  The Idaho program is hopeful that the 128(a) program’s importance to western, specifically rural, communities will be fully appreciated and that future funding will reflect that appreciation.  Our program focuses heavily on rural communities which lack the capacity, resources, or experience to compete for and successfully manage 104(k) grants.  This focus will likely continue as the national grant competition becomes increasingly competitive.  It is our sincere hope that 128(a) funding will eventually expand to help offset the increase in requests for funding.

Our program is taking advantage of the current economic downturn to assist local communities turn larger Brownfields sites such as former landfills into community assets such as mixed use commercial and residential developments, public parks, and alternative energy production facilities.  We are also looking forward to increasing the success of the Reuse Idaho Brownfields Coalition Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (RLF).  Currently, the RLF is funding a cleanup at a nonprofit Children’s Arts Academy in Boise and a former non-regulated dump in Priest River, scheduled to be redeveloped as a public park.  Future potential RLF projects include cleanup of a former leaking underground storage tank site to be redeveloped as retail space, and a former confined animal feeding operation scheduled to be redeveloped as a mixed use site including commercial, residential, and a solar energy production facility.

We look forward to a long and productive partnership with EPA Region 10 as we assist Idaho stakeholders with their Brownfields revitalization needs.

Six Thoughts on Region 10 Brownfields, from Oregon DEQ Headquarters
By Charlie Landman, Legal Policy Advisor; and Gil Wistar, Brownfields Coordinator

1. The Market Will Remain the Driver. The market drives all development, including Brownfields. For many reasons, it’s more challenging for developers to move ahead with Brownfield redevelopments in a down market. Activity will likely pick up as the economy improves and private financing becomes more normalized.  Location has always been an important determinant of what sites are redeveloped, but even some Brownfields in the best locations aren’t moving in the current economic climate. The good news is that this, too, shall pass; the question, however, is when?
2. Timing and Availability of Public “Bridge” Financing Are Critical. We have learned that a crucial financing requirement is funding to bridge a Brownfields redevelopment through the cleanup stage. While it would be best for commercial lenders to provide this funding, it is not often available, and therefore important for government grants and low-interest loans to be there at the right time to carry a project through to cleanup. After cleanup is completed, the bridge funding can be taken out by commercial lenders and the project can move to traditional financing.
3. Brownfields Will Be Called Upon to Provide High-Quality Jobs. Brownfields redevelopment has focused on high-value land conversions, especially into upscale, mixed-use projects with substantial residential components. Increasingly, Brownfield sites will be expected to provide the high-quality “family-wage” jobs that everyone wants. This will involve vacant industrial land in and near city cores, and will require industrial-to-industrial redevelopments that are the least likely to pencil out and attract private financing.
4. The Challenges of Small and Rural Sites. It’s becoming clearer that redevelopment of smaller properties such as “Ma & Pa” gas stations and dry cleaners is difficult, because these properties have minimal payoffs, with property values that can’t support even a moderate cleanup, or expected returns on investment that are too low to justify paying more for the land. Funding investigation and cleanup remains a challenge for many of these smaller Brownfields. While ideal targets for federal competitive grants, it’s often hard to make the case for small Brownfield redevelopments that fail conventional metrics (e.g., redevelopments that will create only a few new jobs – as critical as those jobs might be to the community). Therefore, a new challenge will be to bring additional resources to these sites from non-traditional funding sources. For example, foundations and nonprofits could play an important role in small projects, especially those with broad community support.
5. It’s No Longer a Niche Enterprise. As inner cities revitalize and smaller communities embrace the Brownfields mantra, Brownfields redevelopments have moved from a niche enterprise to the mainstream. Increasingly, developers – assisted in many cases by consultants with Brownfields experience – will include Brownfields in their search for development opportunities (given the caveats in Observation #1 above). The Brownfields stigma is finally starting to wear off, and with it comes the realization that environmental issues frequently turn out NOT to be the driver or bottleneck at Brownfields.
6. Partnering Is the Key. Successful Brownfields projects are most likely when there are conscious partnerships built on shared objectives between business, government, and the community. Increasingly, government will move to a more collaborative posture in Brownfield redevelopment.  State environmental agencies will continue to require cleanup to protective standards, but will use more flexibility, creative thinking, and collaboration to achieve these goals. While this is a shift in style and not substance, it’s likely to provide developers greater certainty and more confidence to tackle even complex Brownfield redevelopments. Finally, it goes without saying that Brownfields partnerships must include property owners – or nothing will happen. Therefore, an increasing area of focus for regulators, developers, and community partners will be honing the tools of persuasion to get site owners on board.

The Kuskokwim River Watershed region (pop.15,000), consists of 39 federally recognized tribes spread across a 58,000 square-mile area of southwest Alaska along the 724-mile long Kuskokwim River. The region includes the hub communities of Bethel, Aniak, and McGrath and is one of Alaska’s more remote and economically challenged areas. The population has considerably higher levels of poverty and unemployment than the rest of the state.

There are many causes of Brownfields in the Kuskokwim region. They have been traced to previous defense sites; Bureau of Indian Affairs school buildings containing lead and asbestos; mine-scarred land; abandoned dumps; and leaking tanks and drums generated by past development and industrial and commercial activity.

Until recently, the contamination from these sources was not adequately addressed, as the limited environmental programs of the small communities in the region lack a Brownfields component. The effect of contamination on their wildlife and ecosystems is a particularly pressing problem due to the reliance of residents on hunting and fishing for subsistence.

The Kuskokwim River Watershed Council (KRWC) was formed to protect the Kuskokwim River and its drainage area. The organization provides environmental educational programs and technical and networking support for the communities in the watershed. In 2009, the KRWC was awarded an EPA grant to create a Brownfields TRP to develop and implement tools to inventory, assess, and revitalize Brownfields in the region.

Shortly after being awarded the TRP grant, the KRWC hired Joey Billy as Brownfields coordinator. Billy has worked with other TRPs and tribal consortia as mentor and liaison, coordinating and assisting tribes, communities and agencies in the region with various environmental programs. He is a native Yup’ik speaker. This is a significant asset in communicating with and eliciting positive response and active participation from the tribes, 90 percent of whom are Alaskan Native, of Yup’ik Eskimo or Athabascan descent.

This first year of the KRWC TRP is concentrating on capacity building, creating a Brownfields inventory and engaging in a variety of Brownfield and hazardous materials-related training. Site-specific work will follow.

The KRWC TRP staff will attend national and state Brownfields conferences and workshops to familiarize themselves with the components of the Brownfields redevelopment process. Staff will engage with the Indian General Assistance Program (IGAP) of the EPA to coordinate the TRP’s Brownfields work with IGAP activities where possible.

They also will familiarize themselves with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Reuse and Redevelopment program. An important part of capacity building will be to develop training materials so that new staff can be trained easily.  Turnover in these remote villages can be high.

It will be a challenge to build a Brownfields inventory over the large geographic area the KRWC covers. Most of the small communities in the region are accessible only   by boat or small plane. The KRWC plans to build a knowledge base of the area by consulting historical records and maps and creating a record of environmental work already performed in the region. Ten to 12 communities will be selected for the first year’s inventory which will consist of questionnaires, surveys and interviews with community leaders. The purpose of these activities will be to communicate the program’s components to the tribal communities, identify Brownfields and begin to build the inventory. The KRWC will hire students to assist with mapping the inventory, using geographic information systems (GIS).

Training is the third area of emphasis for the KRWC TRP, with staff traveling to the remote communities of the region to acquaint them with Brownfields issues. Community environmental workers will be taught how to catalogue Brownfields for inclusion in the inventory, using a manual Billy developed while working with the Nelson Island Consortium TRP. Other training activities will include HAZWOPER certification (subcontracted to an outside firm) and GIS mapping. The KRWC TRP staff l also will help Kuskokwim River communities to complete application forms for DEC Brownfield Assessments and EPA Targeted Brownfield Assessments funding.

For more information contact:

Joey Billy, Certified Paralegal
Kuskokwim River Watershed Council Brownfield Program
BNC Complex, Suite 119
460 Ridgecrest Dr.
ONC PO Box 927
Bethel, AK  99559-0927
Phone: 907-545-3980
krwc.brownfield@kuskokwimcouncil.org

Sandpoint (pop. approx. 8,300) is a small city in the north panhandle of Idaho located on the northern shore of Lake Pend Oreille. For many years Sandpoint was known as the utility pole capital of the west, producing the treated poles used for telephone and other utility lines. The facilities that produced the poles were located on the northern edge of the town in an area that has since become the heart of the city as development has pushed north beyond Sandpoint to the neighboring cities of Ponderay and Kootenai. The wood treatment facilities occupied three adjacent east-west properties totaling about 60 acres bisected by a rail line. Over the years, the properties have been subdivided and reused in a variety of ways. Some are still in light industrial use, others are in commercial use, i.e., retail and office space.

From the 1920s to the 1950s, the approximately 17-acre Division Street Wood Treating Site on the western side of the industrial area was where poles were treated with creosote and later, pentachlorophenol. Work practices and material handling common to that time caused contamination to the soil. Poles were placed in shallow, unlined clay pits in the southeast corner of the property filled with creosote solution for treatment and then were removed from the pits and loaded onto rail cars.

Starting in the late 1970s the Division Street property was parceled off with Bonner County purchasing the northern 2/3 of the property. The remaining southern portion was divided into four parcels. Contamination was first discovered on the furthest east of these parcels in the late 1980s when workers were excavating near the property during a road-widening project. Some of the workers fell ill due to the presence of chemical contamination buried beneath the area where it is suspected that the creosote pits had been located. In response to the discovery, contaminated soil was removed from the area.

The excavation incident prompted a decision by the EPA to conduct a Site Inspection at the North Sandpoint Wood Treating Facilities in 1996.  That site inspection and investigation report concluded that there was no immediate threat from the contamination and the EPA took no action. No further investigations of the site took place until 2006 when the owners of the parcel, operating a lumberyard, wanted to retire and sell their business to another building supply company. The sale was delayed when they could not pay for the needed environmental assessment.

To save the sale, the owners approached the City of Sandpoint, which in turn asked the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality for assistance. The DEQ allocated funds from its State Brownfields Program to pay for the site assessment. The outcome of that investigation was a determination that risks from the contamination beneath the site could be mitigated through the use of an environmental covenant under Idaho Title 55, Chapter 30 Uniform Environmental Covenants Act (UECA). The covenant specifies that to prevent exposure to the soil contamination at the property, no groundwater will be used for drinking water; the site cannot be rezoned as residential; and any excavation in the area will require special planning and oversight.

The property was sold, resulting in the retention of jobs and continued economic activity from the new building supply facility.

Owners of the approximately 33-acre L.D. McFarland property east of the Division Street site treated poles until the 1990s.  In 1996, the Land Remediation Act (LRA) was enacted by the Idaho legislature to establish a non-adversarial avenue for cleaning up sites.  It also established incentives for voluntary cleanup. This led to DEQ’s Brownfields Program in 2004. The property was the first to be enrolled in the Voluntary Cleanup Program, a new term for activities under the LRA.  For its first 10 years, the McFarland site was the only participant in the program.

Environmental investigations have determined that the contamination is confined to the center of the property where the pole treating activities occurred. This contaminated portion is being remediated through a chemical oxidation process pilot test.  Professional offices occupy the uncontaminated western portion of the site.

Still further east in the line of properties comprising the North Sandpoint Wood Treatment Facilities, the owners of the 12-acre B.J Carney site are pursuing cleanup funding through their general liability insurance policy which was issued before the addition of environmental exclusions.

For more information, contact:

Steve Gill, Brownfields Specialist
Idaho Department of Environmental Quality
2110 Ironwood Parkway
Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814
Phone: 208-666-4632
Cell: 208-818-5326

Mountain Fir Lumber Company operated a lumber and planing mill in Independence from approximately 1966 to 1990. In the early 1990s, it was discovered that pentachlorophenol (PCP) from wood treatment activities had contaminated the soil and groundwater to the extent that a groundwater plume spread blocks from the mill and threatened the city’s water supply. Mill owners cooperated with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), entering into a series of agreements to assess and clean up the site. Over a period of nearly 10 years, contaminated soils were removed and groundwater treatment systems operated until the plume was reduced in size and localized under the mill property. Active remediation ceased in 2006 when it was determined that the contamination had been mitigated to a level that protected the off-site groundwater. Institutional controls, capping and other contingency measures were put in place to manage the residual contamination.

In 1998, while the remediation was being conducted, the DEQ entered into a Prospective Purchaser Agreement (PPA) with a new owner. While the PPA contained certain obligations and conditions related to the use of the property, the new owner was able to maintain a profitable pallet making business at the site from 1991 until closing recently. This redevelopment of the mill site is the first of the three Brownfields success story in Independence and illustrates how the combination of a site owner willing to work closely and cooperatively with the DEQ can create a benefit for the community where many others have suffered from closed mills that have languished for years.

The second major Brownfields redevelopment in Independence was in 2003 with the redevelopment of an old gas station and adjoining commercial property into the new 8,000 square- foot Independence Library. The city received a combination of Brownfields grants and loans totaling $800,000 from the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department (now Business Oregon) to purchase the property, demolish the old structures, remediate petroleum contamination from past activities and build the library. Similar to their work on the Mountain Fir site, DEQ facilitated the process of redevelopment, assisting with cleanup planning and assuring that contamination was sufficiently mitigated to eliminate any future risk to human health and the environment at the new library.

The city’s most recent Brownfield-related redevelopment was not known to be contaminated at the onset. This is the site of a new 36,500 square-foot civic center to house city administrative offices, the police department, municipal courts and public meeting space. The facility is designed to accommodate projected municipal needs for the next 50 years.

The city had purchased the property from Pacific Power & Light Company and been using it for public works storage. During the pre-construction phase, petroleum-contaminated soil was encountered. The city’s Community Development Director consulted with the DEQ to see what steps the city should take to address the contamination.

DEQ performed the investigation, using funds from its EPA State Response grant. The agency also engaged consultants to evaluate the ecological impact to any endangered species and an archeological specialist from the Grand Ronde tribe to determine if any Native American artifacts were present.

The investigation concluded that contaminants in the soil were below levels requiring remediation but that groundwater contamination remained a problem, with some contaminants exceeding safe drinking water levels. The DEQ restricted current groundwater use and required that a deed restriction preventing its future use be placed on the property. In response, the city will provide municipal water to the new facility. The archeological survey did not reveal the presence of historical artifacts. Presently, construction of the new Civic Center is half completed.

All three of these Brownfield projects in Independence show the value of DEQ’s involvement in facilitating the successful assessment and cleanup of contaminated property. In addition to providing oversight and regulatory approval, DEQ can offer small communities the experience, guidance and oftentimes the funds to overcome obstacles to Brownfields redevelopment.

For more information, contact:

Mike Danko, Community Development Director
City of Independence
503-838-1212
danko.michael@ci.independence.or.us

Richardson Airways operated an aerial pesticide spraying business at the Yakima airport from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s. Spray equipment was washed in an area where much chemical contamination accumulated.

After Ecology’s Toxic Cleanup Program staff learned of the potential problem, they conducted site investigations for several years beginning in 1989.  Although soil and groundwater sampling revealed several pesticides in the soil at levels above the state’s cleanup standards, they did not find any groundwater contamination.  However, restrictions on the amount of allowable state funding kept Ecology from being involved in the needed cleanup.

The site, at the end of an abandoned runway, remained idle for over a decade, interrupting traffic flow and business activities in the area. A restrictive covenant was placed on the site to control exposure to the contamination until remediation could take place.

The turning point occurred in 2007 when the Washington Legislature expanded state policy governing how Remedial Action Grant (RAG) funds can be used. The new policy allows Ecology to fund up to 90% of a site’s remediation costs in cases where local funding would cause severe economic distress. Typically, Ecology funds cleanups at the 50% level.

The possibility of additional funding started a dialogue between Ecology and the city of Yakima in 2008. Ecology ultimately agreed to provide 90% of the necessary funding. The city and Yakima County would share the remaining cost. Ecology understood that cleaning up the site could lead to increased economic activity since the site was impeding redevelopment in the airport area. Also, the city would have had to divert its scarce funds from other priorities to pay more for the remediation. Ecology decided the added investment was a worthy use of RAG funding.

The cleanup was a straightforward dig-and-haul process. Fortunately, the quantity of contaminated soil was less than anticipated and contamination levels were low enough so that the material could be disposed at the local Yakima landfill. Transportation costs increased the overall cost as fuel prices increased substantially during the project’s duration, but the local disposal savings offset the increase. The final cleanup bill was approximately $400,000.

This Brownfields cleanup project is part of a larger plan to enhance the potential of the Yakima Air Terminal for economic development that will benefit the entire Yakima area. The next step is a development plan. Already, private hangars adjoining the property are fully booked; this is considered a good sign for the development potential of the property.

The success of the project illustrates how coordination among the city, county and Ecology achieved the dual purpose of completing a needed e cleanup and advancing important state-local relationships. It also has contributed to community wellbeing and illustrates the value of cooperative problem-solving and financing to pay for needed economic development projects.

For more information contact:

Doug Mayo, City Engineer
City of Yakima
509-576-6678
dmayo@ci.yakima.wa.us

The Village of Yakutat lies on the northern end of the Alaska Panhandle. Approximately half of the nearly 800 residents are members of the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe. The U.S. military has been a presence in Yakutat and the Phipps Peninsula since the 1920s. As many as 45,000 troops were stationed in the area during World War II. Military installations have included air, naval, and communications facilities. In the course of their operations, the military handled and disposed of fuels, hazardous substances and solid waste. As the military operations were closed over the years, they left behind abandoned buildings and other structures. The land formerly occupied by the military was transferred to other federal agencies or turned over to the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has conducted cleanups at former military sites in Yakutat and is presently doing remedial investigations at others under the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) program. The Tribe also is conducting cleanups and removal actions under the U.S. Department of Defense Native American Lands Environmental Mitigation Program (NALEMP).

The USACE’s investigations have revealed dioxins in soils, sediments, and shellfish in and around the Ankau Saltchucks, an inland saltwater body on the Phipps Peninsula that lies west of Yakutat. The Saltchucks provide about 30 percent of the Tribe’s food supply, raising concerns about the presence of dioxins and other contaminants in the aquatic life, and the potential health risks to subsistence consumers. The Saltchucks area also is culturally significant to the Tribe. It is the location of the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe’s culture camp, where young people from areas around Southeast Alaska learn about their native heritage.

Due to USACE budget constraints and different priorities for environmental investigation work, dioxin sampling in the area had come to an end a few years ago. Alex James, a community and Tribal member and now the TRP Coordinator, was deeply concerned about this and took the initiative to find funding that would permit the Tribe to conduct its own investigations into dioxin contamination. They were also interested in reviewing the remediation work being done by the USACE in Yakutat. Alex’s search led him to EPA’s Brownfields program and specifically, to the Tribal Response Program grants.

In 2008 the Tribe applied for and received a grant to establish its own Tribal Response Program. At least half of the funding tribes receive is devoted to establishing and enhancing their program and to ensure that they include or are taking reasonable steps to include these four elements in their programs:

• Timely survey and inventory of Brownfield sites.
• Oversight and enforcement authorities or other mechanisms and resources to ensure that a response action will protect human health and the environment.
• Mechanisms and resources to provide meaningful opportunities for public participation.
• Mechanisms for approval of a cleanup plan and verification that cleanup is complete.

The other portion of a Brownfields Response Program funding may be spent on specific site work.

Since receiving the grant, the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe has satisfied the first element by developing an inventory of Brownfields sites. Though not all are military-related, all have an impact either on the resources used for subsistence and/or cultural activities of the community. The inventory is being further developed this year when the sites are mapped in a web-based GIS format. To comply with the third element, public participation, the Tribe and its contractors will develop community outreach and educational materials that will augment the online inventory.

The Tribe’s immediate and primary concern, one which has consumed much of their efforts, is the dioxin contamination found near the sensitive shellfish habitat of the Ankau Saltchucks. The response program work plans for 2009 and 2010 reflect this emphasis. The 2009 work plan focused on developing a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) for sampling and analysis work at sites that can be applied to specific site work. This relates to the fourth element in the TRP: approval and verification of cleanup.

Also in 2009, the Tribe and its environmental consultant reviewed the dioxin investigations previously performed by the USACE. This included screening levels used, detection limits achieved, types of dioxins detected, toxicity calculations and a determination of additional investigation work needed.

This year’s work plan calls for the Tribe to conduct additional site-specific dioxin testing that will build on the program development and USACE evaluation done in 2009.  The Tribe proposes collecting up to 20 soil, sediment, water and animal tissue samples to supplement previous dioxin investigations.

Part of the additional work will be to obtain analytical data from state-of-the-art procedures using lower detection limits, and collecting samples from a wider area. The goal of these efforts is to try to determine whether the contamination is localized or more widely distributed and may also provide important information for identifying the likely source of the dioxin contamination.

It also is important to the Tribe to evaluate applicable maximum allowable contaminant levels for shellfish in light of their members’ higher than average consumption. The current acceptable contaminant levels are based on a mainland average that does not account for the higher shellfish consumption in this subsistence community. After identifying possible sources of the dioxin contamination, potential health risks to the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe can be addressed.

For more information, contact:

Alex James, Tribal Response Coordinator
Yakutat Tlingit Tribe
P.O. Box 418
Yakutat, AK 99689
Phone: 907-784-3238 ext. 231
Fax: 907-784-3595
ajames@ytttribe.org

Joanne LaBaw
U.S. EPA—Region 10
1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900
Seattle, WA 98101
labaw.joanne@epa.gov

Moscow, Idaho (population approximately 24,000) is in Northern Idaho, close to the Washington border. Moscow is home to the University of Idaho (UI), which provides over 50% of the jobs in the greater metropolitan area and is the foundation for the city’s economy. Recently, however, particularly due to the economic downturn, city leaders have become concerned that Moscow and the surrounding area have become too dependent on higher education and government for jobs. The city also has been losing businesses and economic development opportunities to Pullman, Washington, another university town just eight miles across the border.

One problem the city faced in attracting new business was a shortage of “clean” developable land. Although an abandoned railroad corridor between the historic downtown and the UI was an obvious target for new development, many of the properties were contaminated from past agricultural and industrial activity.

To deal with this problem, the Moscow Urban Renewal Agency established the 163-acre railroad corridor as the Legacy Crossing Urban Renewal District. The agency then joined a coalition with the city and Latah County to apply for a 2009 EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant to help advance redevelopment prospects for the area. Although that request was not approved, coalition members attended a debriefing session with representatives from the EPA Region 10 Brownfields office, where they received advice on how to create a stronger future application. The coalition addressed these shortcomings, reapplied last fall, and was notified in mid-April that their application was accepted.

Alisa Stone, the city’s grant coordinator, credits better preparation and a greater level of information and understanding for this year’s success. The application had more details about the city’s financial need, supported with specific statistics unique to Moscow and Latah County that were compared with state and national statistics.  The application also contained a better visual representation of what the corridor could look like in the future and incorporated important information from the city’s comprehensive economic development plan that was financed with a Rural Business Opportunity Grant from the USDA.

The coalition’s winning proposal focuses on five properties requiring assessment. Four of the sites are immediately adjacent to the railroad corridor, and the fifth is a 14-acre parcel that is part of a larger 78-acre light industrial park. Completed environmental site assessments for these properties, not available for the coalition’s first grant attempt, were incorporated into the second application. Having these assessments led to more accurate estimates of the costs to do further, updated assessments of the properties and resulted in a significant decrease in the overall budget from $875,000 requested in 2009 to the $475,000 eventually awarded.

Another aspect of the coalition’s winning grant was a prioritization of the properties, made after consulting with the owners. This will help the coalition overcome one of the most significant obstacles to successful use of assessment grant funds – property owner reluctance to participate. In fact, since the award, Stone reports that owners of properties in the urban renewal area not targeted in the grant have contacted the city indicating their willingness to participate in the project.

Stone also emphasizes the importance of the team approach the coalition used to write the successful grant application. As the primary writer, she worked closely with several Brownfield professionals from diverse backgrounds, including Steve Gill from the Idaho DEQ; Michele Vashon, of the UI; Bill Belknap and Jen Pfiffner from the city and Travis Cary, from the city and the Moscow URA. They reviewed each draft of the application and worked through six iterations before it was submitted.

It should also be noted that Stone’s position is somewhat unique as few cities of any size employ a full-time grant coordinator/writer.

The city is aware that the assessment of the targeted Brownfields properties is just the beginning of redevelopment. The coalition’s future plans include using the information from the assessments as part of a strategy to market the properties. They also plan to pursue EPA cleanup grants as needed, and work with the DEQ, possibly using state funds for future remediation of the sites.

For more information contact:

Travis Cary, City of Moscow Economic Development Director & Moscow URA Executive Director
208-883-7007
tcary@ci.moscow.id.us

Jen Pfiffner, City of Moscow Assistant to the City Supervisor
208-883-7123
jpfiffner@ci.moscow.id.us

[The following article was written by Dan Hafley and Gil Wistar of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).]

The first four phases of Station Place, a project of the Portland Development Commission (PDC) working closely with Oregon DEQ, were completed last year. The development features Station Place Tower, a 14-story apartment building for low-income seniors; a 70,000-square-foot headquarters building for Ziba Design; a 420-space parking garage and a reconstructed elevated vehicle ramp to the heart of the Pearl District from the Broadway Bridge.

Green building elements in the Station Place Tower earned an Award of Excellence for Affordable Housing Build Responsibly from the Home Depot Foundation and a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for the Ziba building. Last month, the entire project won a 2010 Oregon Brownfields Award at the annual Oregon Brownfields Conference.

The site was a rail and switching yard for nearly 100 years, since the 1890s. In the early 1900s, a Pintsch Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) operated on adjacent land. PDC purchased the property in the 1980s for redevelopment.  A multi-phase soil and groundwater investigation was subsequently conducted between 1999 and 2003 under a Voluntary Cleanup Agreement with DEQ.  This included the collection of about 130 soil and groundwater samples from soil borings or monitoring wells. Results of sample analyses showed elevated concentrations of MGP waste products in both soil and groundwater, as well as lead, arsenic, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface and shallow subsurface soils.

According to PDC’s consultant on the project, AMEC’s Earth & Environmental Division, due to the high degree of contamination, it was a major challenge to develop a remedial solution that would take care of the problem without adversely affecting the project’s financial feasibility. Clearly, it would have been too costly to use the conventional “dig and haul” method for such a large amount of contaminated soil and long-term treatment at the site would either slow down or even eliminate planned redevelopment options.  Another challenge was to meet the goal of changing the use of the site from industrial to mixed residential/commercial.

Considering all these issues, an expedited risk assessment and feasibility study was completed in 2002-03. Numerous comprehensive treatment options for soil and groundwater were considered but ultimately ruled out due to excessive cost or uncertainty that the treatment would be effective. The selected remedy was to haul “hot spots” of contaminated soil and then seal off, but not remove, contamination from the rest of the property. This reduced the cost and used development features themselves – the buildings, sidewalks, and landscaping – as caps to prevent human contact with contaminated soil. The remedy also integrated vapor-mitigation systems into the design of the buildings.  These included a barrier beneath the concrete floor slab of each building and a piping system to capture and safely remove sub-slab vapors in portions of the site affected by residual MGP contamination.

During grading and foundation work, PDC, AMEC and DEQ worked closely to ensure the safety of contractors working on-site. In addition, contaminant management measures were taken to prevent off-site migration to the nearby high-density urban residential housing.  DEQ issued a No Further Action determination for the redevelopment lots in 2008.

According to project manager Leonard Farr of AMEC, PDC’s efforts were critical in moving this complicated project forward. In support of the project’s selection for a 2010 Oregon Brownfields Award, Joan Pendergast, chair of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association, said, “Only the vision and will of an organization like the PDC could have brought this project to fruition.” She praised the development’s focus on sustainability and green-design elements, as well as its creation of affordable housing for seniors, up to then lacking in the neighborhood.  DEQ continues to work closely with the PDC on numerous contaminated sites in the Portland metropolitan area, many within the most actives areas of redevelopment in the urban core.

PDC, which celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2008, manages 11 urban renewal areas in the City of Portland and is the largest urban renewal agency in Oregon. Its mission is to bring together resources to achieve Portland’s vision of a diverse, sustainable community with healthy neighborhoods, a vibrant central city, a strong regional economy, and quality jobs and housing.

For more information, contact:

Dan Hafley, R.G.
Senior Project Manager/Hydrogeologist
Northwest Region Cleanup Section
Oregon DEQ
503-229-5417
hafley.dan@deq.state.or.us

Last year, through a competitive grant process, the EPA awarded the Washington Department of Commerce (Commerce) $2.6 million to clean up six Brownfield sites. Of all the states, Washington received the most money from this EPA ARRA program. Once again, Washington was rewarded for being a national leader in working with stakeholders to implement Brownfields cleanups that lead to redevelopment.

Of the six sites scheduled to be cleaned up with ARRA funds, three are still in the planning and negotiation phase with the Department of Ecology (Ecology) under the state’s Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA). Two others are close to beginning cleanup activities and one process is nearly completed. All six, with a combined cleanup cost of $2.2 million, will be ready for redevelopment within the next two years.

The site furthest along in the cleanup process and the first Recovery Act project approved and completed by Commerce  is the future home  of Claremont, an affordable housing project in South Seattle. It is owned by SouthEast Effective Development (SEED), a prior Brownfields Phoenix Award winner. When completed, the mixed-use development will have 68 low-to-moderate income housing and ground floor retail space.

SEED began a two-year planning process after purchasing the former site of the Chubby & Tubby department store in 2005. During this time, Ecology directed SEED to undertake additional due diligence. The investigation revealed petroleum contamination from an underground fuel tank removed in 1995 that was part of a gas station on the site.

To deal with this unexpected, extensive and costly cleanup expense, SEED applied for an EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant in 2008. When the application was not selected as part of a highly competitive grant program, SEED faced the prospect of absorbing the cleanup costs as part of the project.

In what can only be characterized as a silver lining to the greyest of clouds, the economic downturn was a positive development for the Claremont Project. The creation of the ARRA in 2009, the EPA’s awarding of millions of dollars in funding for new Brownfields work to shovel-ready projects, the receipt of the funds by Commerce and the fact that SEED was ready to proceed, aligned to provide funding for the cleanup of the Claremont Project site. The result was a grant for $215,000 to SEED, a vital component in keeping the project moving forward on schedule.

Construction of the building began in December 2009 and will be completed by the end of this year. It is expected that the units will be on the rental market in January, 2011.

When it is done, SEED managers estimate that the project will have supported 10 cleanup and 80 construction jobs, and resulted in seven permanent positions, at a total cost of just under $15 million. The Claremont will provide affordable apartments in a transit-oriented location (within two blocks of the new Mt. Baker Light Rail Station) with numerous amenities and public services such as grocery stores, retail outlets, schools and parks nearby.

For more information, contact:

Dan Koroma, Brownfields Coordinator
Departments of Ecology and Commerce
360-407-7187 / 360-725-4062
Dkor461@ecy.wa.gov/daniel.koroma@commerce.wa.gov

“This grant will deliver double benefits to King County communities,” said Dennis McLerran, EPA’s Regional Administrator in Seattle.  “Not only do the grants provide valuable job skills at a critical time, but the people who receive the training will also be able to make their neighborhood safer by cleaning up environmental hazards.”

King County will train 75 students and expects to place 62 graduates in environmental jobs.  Trainees will receive certifications in 40-hour hazardous waste operations and emergency response, industrial spill response, lead and asbestos abatement and Operational Safety and Health Administration construction readiness.  Participants also will receive instruction in industrial hygiene, blood born pathogens, energy auditing and weatherization.

King County is targeting its grant to benefit disadvantaged neighborhoods with concentrations of underemployed and unemployed adult residents living near the Duwamish/Tukwila Manufacturing and Industrial Center neighborhood.  This area has the highest concentration of Brownfields in the state and a significant number of low-income residents.