United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response(5101)
EPA500-F-99-153
June 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
£EPA
Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Sioux City, IA
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
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 brownfieldstofacilitatecleanupofbrownfieldssites and preparetrainees for future employmentintheenvironmental
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 Sioux City for a Brownfields Pilot.
Sioux City (population 80,505) has historically been a
commercial center of the upper Missouri River.
Much of the commerce was related to the processing
and distribution oflivestock in the Sioux City stockyards
area located at the confluence of the Missouri and
Floyd Rivers. The Pilot is targeting this 215 -acre tract
of land that is designated by the city as an urban
renewal area and is within the state's certified
Enterprise Zone (EZ) and the Floyd Valley tax
increment financing district.
In the 1920s, the stockyards and related businesses
employed thousands. Beginning in the 1950s, however,
a changing livestock industry and labor unrest resulted
in a two-decade decline for the stockyards. Today,
only a few packing plants remain in business while
others have been abandoned, leaving large brownfields
such as former packing plants and livestock holding
facilities. Those employed by the remaining
stockyards, almost 70 percent minority, have an
average salary far below the statewide average.
PILOTSNAPSHOT
Sioux City, Iowa
Date of Announcement:
June 1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
the 215-acre Sioux City
stockyards near the
confluence of the Floyd and
Missouri Rivers.
Contacts:
City of Sioux City
Community and Economic
Development Division
(712)279-6345
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
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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OBJECTIVES
By conducting environmental assessments, the Pilot
plans to help reduce potential environmental risks,
create new jobs, and increase the average wages
through cleanup and redevelopment of the Sioux City
stockyards. Consistent with the Floyd Valley
redevelopment plan, proposed reuses of the targeted
site include agribusiness, light manufacturing, high
technology, and warehouse and transportation
facilities. The Pilot will work within the city's holistic
and collaborative strategy for revitalizing the
community.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Identifying brownfields within the targeted area;
• Performing Phase I and Phase II environmental
assessments on priority sites in the target area;
• Designing cleanup plans for assessed sites; and
• Conducting public outreach and community
involvement activities.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Sioux City, Iowa
June 1999 EPA500-F-99-153
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