United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-092
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Fort Dodge, IA
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states,
tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods
to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Fort Dodge for a
Brownfields Pilot. Fort Dodge is a city that has a
population of 26,000 people and serves as a regional
hub for about 100,000 people. Due to a devastated
farm economy and the closing of a few of its large
employers, the city experienced a very depressed
economy in the 1970s and 1980s. Property values
plummeted, and about 17 percent of the population
left the city to find work in urban areas of larger cities
and states. Since the mid-1990s, when community
effort helped reverse a decision to close down amaj or
employer, community pride and motivation have been
high. The city has added new industry, diversified into
value-added production, and begun a cleanup initiative.
The maj or redevelopment focus of the city is to make
its river corridor clean and safe for recreational use
through its riverfront master plan. As the first step in
the riverfront improvement plan, the Pilot will target
three brownfield sites—Volunteer Park Junkyard
(12th Avenue, SW), Soldier Creek Dump (5th Street),
and the Hawkeye Avenue Elevator—all located along
the Des Moines River or Soldier Creek and in the
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Announcement:
May 2000
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The City of Fort Dodge
targets three sites within the
city, all located along waterways
inthegreenbeltcorridorsystem.
Fort Dodge, IA
Contacts:
City of Fort Dodge
(515)573-8321
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 7
(913)551-7786
Visit the EPA Region 7 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region07/specinit/brown/brownfields.htm
Forfurtherinformation, including specific Pilotcontacts,
additional Pilotinformation.brownfieldsnewsandevents.and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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greenbelt corridor system. In addition, the sites are
located in the city's oldest neighborhoods and are
characterized as low-income areas (e.g., 24 percent
of the families live in poverty).
OBJECTIVES
The City of Fort Dodge's goal is to complete the
riverfront redevelopment project, which includes
streambank stabilization, pond restoration, development
of a footbridge, and encouragement of a private
property ownerto donate its riverfront property. The
Pilot will facilitate these efforts by identifying any
contamination problems in the project area and
planning for cleanup at three targeted brownfields.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this pilot include:
• Conducting Phase I and II site investigations to
determine whether the three targeted sites pose
risks and need to be cleaned up;
• Developing cleanup and mitigation plans at the
targeted sites; and
• Engaging community participation in the assessment
and cleanup planning at the targeted sites.
The cooperative agreementforthis Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subjectto change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Fort Dodge, IA
May2000 EPA 500-F-00-092
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