United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-035
June 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Hennepin County, MN
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 selected Hennepin County for a Brownfields
Pilot. The county contains one-quarter (1,05 0,000) of
Minnesota's population and includes the city of
Minneapolis and 45 suburbs. Because of past industrial
development, the county must now contend with
environmentally contaminated lands. The county is
responsible for addressing almost 100 brownfields,
many of which they have assessed or are assessing.
The target area for the Pilot is adjacent to and
northwest of downtown Minneapolis. The population
of the area is nearly 10,000—more than 70 percent of
whom are minorities and 50 percent of whom live
below the poverty level. This area has the lowest
income and the highest crime rate in the state. The
Pilot will focus on 14 sites in this area, including the
Doc's Auto, Warden Oil, and Chemical Marketing
Corporation sites. Redevelopment of these sites is
complicated because of heavy concentrations of
contamination, poor accessibility, and a high crime
rate. The Doc's Auto site formerly housed an auto
salvage yard and sits directly above the Basset Creek
tunnel. This site is located in a federal Enterprise
Community. Warden Oil, a 1.6-acre site about 200
feet from Basset Creek, operated for approximately
65 years refining waste lubricating oils and transmission
fluids. The Chemical Marketing Corporation site, a
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Award: September 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets 14
brownfields in a distressed area
northwest ofdowntown Minneapolis.
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Contacts:
Hennepin County
Community Works
(612)348-5859
U.S. EPA-Region 5
(312)353-3161
Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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0.8-acre private parcel also next to the Basset Creek
waterway, previously housed a waste solvent recycler.
OBJECTIVES
The Pilot's main focus was to implement a community
visioning process as a means of interacting with area
residents, including non-traditional populations that do
not normallyparticipate in such processes; community
and environmental groups; businesses; and lenders to
develop cleanup and reuse strategies for identifying
both interim- and long-term-use cleanup and
redevelopment strategies for the area's brownfields.
Community involvement was the most important tool
forthe overall success of brownfields redevelopment
that the Pilot hoped to see accomplished in the Basset
Creek community. The Pilot also planned an interim
use—an innovative way to address brownfields sites,
which may include adoption of recreational park and
greenspace uses as an intervening approach to spark
future neighborhood and commercial redevelopment
strategies by enhancing the livability and desirability
of the distressed areas. The Pilot will evaluate
different options for interim use of the targeted sites.
The Pilot will also evaluate creative funding
mechanisms.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Pilot has:
• Created an inventory of 15 properties and targeted
14 for assessment, cleanup, and reuse;
• Launched an outreach campaign to communicate
Pilot activities to interested individuals and
organizations, including creating a web site that
provides current updates on the Pilot's progress;
and
• Conducted a community visioning process to ensure
public and private participation in environmental
cleanup and land use planning.
The Pilot is:
• Implementing a long-range cleanup and
redevelopment plan for the area.
LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES
Experience with the Hennepin County Pilot has been
acatalyst for related activities, includingthe following:
• The county was awarded an additional $500,000
grant under EPA's Brownfields Cleanup Revolving
Loan Fund Pilot program.
• The county was awarded an additional $200,000 as
one of EPA's Brownfields Job Training and
Development Demonstration Pilots.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot
June 2001
Hennepin County, Minnesota
EPA 500-F-01-035
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