United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-01-001
May 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
JLFPA Emeryville, California
BCRLF Pilot Project
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 $250,000 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, brownfields cleanup revolving loan fund (BCRLF) pilot programs (each funded up to
$1,000,000 over five years), to provide financial assistance 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
The City of Emeryville was historically dominated by
industrial uses. The majority of the industrial companies
left the area in the 1970s. In 1996,234 acres in Emeryville
were vacant or underused, and 213 acres were known to
have soil and groundwater contamination. Although there
is demand for residential and commercial development, the
cost and risk associated with these brownfields have
impeded their redevelopment. The result for the city was
a loss of $13.3 million in tax revenues and 450 jobs
between 1991 and 1996. Nearly half of the city's citizens
are low-income, and more than half are minorities. Most of
the city's poor live in neighborhoods bordered by
brownfields.
The City was awarded a Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot grant of $200,000 in May 1996. The
City also developed a "one-stop shop" internet-based
database of environmental and general parcel information
for prospective developers. In 1999, EPA awarded the City
$200,000 in supplemental assistance to complete
implementation of the City's groundwater management
plan, augment the "one-stop shop" database, and perform
assessments for expansion of the City's greenspace
resources.
EPA awarded the City $500,000 to capitalize a
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (BCRLF) Pilot
in May 1999. Referred to as CIERRA - Capital Incentives
for Emeryville's Redevelopment and Remediation, the
BCRLF will bridge the gap between environmental
assessment and development of brownfields properties by
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Loan: January 2001
Amount: $300,000
Loan Profile: The City of Emeryville is
making a $300,000 loan to
Emery Station Associates II, LLC for
the cleanup of parts of the
EmeryStation II commercial building
development in Emeryville.
Emeryville, CA
Contacts:
City of Emeryville
(510)596-4356
Region 9 Brownfields
Coordinator
(415)744-2237
Visit the EPA Region 9 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/index.html
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://www.epa.gov/brownfields
providing the capital to fund cleanup efforts for
brownfields sites. The City is also supplementing CIERRA
loans by providing additional funds for activities not
eligible under the BCRLF.
-------
STRUCTURE OF BCRLF PILOT PROGRAM
The City will serve as lead agency and fund manager. The
City's Public Works Department will serve as site
manager, with additional technical support provided by a
contracted consultant.
BCRLF CLEANUP SITE
The cleanup site is part of the EmeryStation II commercial
building development located at 6121 Hollis Street, near
62nd Street, in Emeryville, California. The former
Westinghouse Electric Corporation owned and operated an
electrical manufacturing facility that included the site,
which is presently used as a parking area. Under a
negotiated agreement with the current developer, a portion
of the PCB-impacted soils on the cleanup site will be
removed by Westinghouse's successor (Viacom) to allow
construction of a utility trench and access road for the
EmeryStation II project. The developer, EmeryStation
Associates II, will construct an asphalt cap, which will also
serve as part of the access road, over the remaining
PCB-impacted soil on the cleanup site.
PCBs were detected in soil on the cleanup site from 0.5 to
6 feet below ground surface (bgs), with the highest
concentrations within the upper one-foot. The highest PCB
concentration detected within the cleanup site was 3300
mg/kg at 0.5 feet bgs. PCBs have also been detected at
relatively low concentrations in groundwater samples from
several wells. Typical PCB concentrations in groundwater
have decreased to less than 10 mg/1.
BCRLF BORROWER AND LOAN STRUCTURE
The City of Emeryville loaned $300,000 to EmeryStation
Associates II, LLC for the site cleanup in January 2001.
The parent company of EmeryStation Associates II
purchased the property in 1984 subsequent to its
contamination. The loan term is four years and the interest
rate is two percent. There is a no-interest/no-payment grace
period for the first year, and there are no pre-payment
penalties. The City is also providing $10,000 in additional
funds for oversight activities.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Capitalizing on previous public participation activities, the
City prepared a Public Participation Plan (PPP) for
CIERRA that involved interviews with 15 interested
parties. Site-specific issues for CIERRA loan sites will be
addressed through addenda to the PPP. The PPP can
be found on the Internet at:
http://www.ci.emeryville.ca.us/bf/publicplan.html.
For the EmeryStation Associates II site, the City mailed
Removal Action Fact Sheets to 250 adjacent residents,
business and property owners within 500 feet of the site,
and interested parties identified in the PPP. The Fact Sheet
summarized the Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis
(EE/CA), notified interested parties of the public meeting
and the 30-day public comment period, and provided
information regarding the administrative record. In
addition, a notice was published in a daily newspaper.
PROPOSED SITE REUSE PLAN
The BCRLF loan funds will be used to cap contamination
on property to be used as an access road and utility
corridor for the EmeryStation II commercial building. The
access road forms part of the Horton Street Extension,
which is an alternate north-south artery through the city,
and serves the existing Amtrak railroad station and the
EmeryStation project, which are part of an emerging urban
transit village. Construction has been completed or is
underway for 400,000 square feet of office and retail
space, 101 housing units, and parking structures.
Additional buildings are planned in the area, including the
remainder of 6121 Hollis Street. By completing the
development of the transit village, the City will
demonstrate that technical and financial assistance and
partnerships across all parts of the community can turn
mothballed industrial properties into centers of business,
transit, and housing.
CONTACTS
Ignacio Dayrit, City of Emeryville Brownfields Director
(510)596-4356;
EPA Region 9 Brownfields Coordinator (415) 744-2237
U.S. EPA-OSWER Outreach and Special Projects Staff
(202) 260-4039;
For additional information, contact the RCRA/ Superfund
Hotline at: (800) 424-9346 or visit the EPA Brownfields
website at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields.
Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with
CERCLA, and all CERCLA restrictions on use of funding
also apply to BCRLF funds.
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
May 2001
Emeryville, CA
EPA 500-F-01-001
------- |