United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-01-002
May 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
v>EPA
Hennepin County, Minnesota
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 $200,000 over two years, with additional funding
provided forgreenspace), to assess brownfields sites and to test assessment models and facilitate coordinated assessment and
cleanup efforts at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels; and 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
Hennepin County contains one-quarter of Minnesota's
population (1,050,000) and includes the city of
Minneapolis and 44 suburbs. An important part of the river
and rail corridor systems of the upper-midwest, Hennepin
County must now contend with contamination, or
perceived contamination at many former industrial and
commercial sites. These sites reduce the County's quality
of life and property tax valuations, and inhibit efforts to
retain and attract commercial and industrial businesses.
In September 1999, the U.S. EPA selected Hennepin
County to receive a $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup
Revolving Loan Fund (BCRLF) Pilot. The BCRLF Pilot
will provide low-interest loans to clean up brownfields
sites in Hennepin County. Eligible borrowers will include
private, for-profit businesses, non-profit businesses and
public entities.
Hennepin County's BCRLF targets sites throughout the
County, with priority consideration given to sites within
Minneapolis' Empowerment Zone, and within special
designated districts such as hazardous waste districts,
which are tax increment financing districts.
STRUCTURE OF THE HENNEPIN COUNTY BCRLF
Hennepin County is the lead agency for the BCRLF
program and will also serve as fund manager for the
program. The Program is administered by the Hennepin
County Department of Environmental Services (DES). All
sites receiving loan funds from the BCRLF are required to
enroll in the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Loan: December 2000
Amount: $240,000 with escalation
up to $425,000
Loan Profile: Hennepin County is
making a $240,000 loan to Fire Barn
Associates, LLC for the cleanup of
property located near the intersection
of East Hennepin Ave., and University
Ave., NE, Minneapolis
Hennepin County, I
Contacts:
Hennepin County
BCRLF Coordinator
(612)348-9938
Region 5 Brownfields
Coordinator
(312)886-4071
Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at:
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
(MPCA's) Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup (VIC)
Program. The MPCA also will serve as site manager for
the Hennepin County BCRLF.
Hennepin County DES is the heart of Hennepin County's
brownfields programs. The Contaminated Lands Unit of
the Hennepin County DES was created in 1996 and seeks
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to strengthen urban communities by returning vacant and
under-utilized contaminated lands to productive use,
thereby retaining and creating jobs and reducing urban
sprawl.
BCRLF BORROWER
Fire Barn Associates, LLC, which is part of a greater real
estate development enterprise known as HuntGregory,
LLC, is the borrower for this project. Fire Barn Associates,
LLC has teamed with the United States Department of
Housing and Urban Development, the Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency, the Minnesota Department of Health, the
Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic
Development, Hennepin County DES and the
Metropolitan Council to revitalize the neighborhoods by
cleanup of environmental hazards and by construction of
housing units and commercial retail and office space.
Hennepin County is making a $240,000 BCRLF loan to
Fire Barn Associates, LLC for the cleanup of property
located near the intersection of East Hennepin Avenue and
University Avenue, NE, Minneapolis. The loan documents
provide for the loan to increase up to $425,000 should
additional funds be needed to address environmental issues
associated with the cleanup. The site falls within the
Nicollet Island/East Bank neighborhood and within the
larger University community of Minneapolis. More than
40% of the population in this neighborhood is below the
poverty level.
BCRLF CLEANUP SITE
The properties that comprise Block 40 and Block 41, Saint
Anthony Falls Addition to Minneapolis near the
intersection of East Hennepin Avenue and University
Avenue, NE, Minneapolis, include a former car dealership
and associated automotive service and body work
facilities. The car dealership and predecessor dealerships
involved retail sales, storage of new cars both inside
buildings and on paved surfaces surrounding the buildings,
automobile service facilities, and body and collision repair
services. The dealership and associated service garage
were located on Block 40. The dealership has been vacant
for a number of years.
The existing building housing the "Collision Center"
(body shop) on Block 41 was constructed in 1951. The
auto-body and collision repair services facility was in
operation until a few months ago. A small filling station
was constructed on Block 41 in 1947 and demolished
between 1983 and 1993.
The surrounding area is characterized by mixed land use.
Surrounding property includes a variety of industrial,
commercial, and retail facilities, as well as high-density
residential. The area has been developed for over 150
years, as the area around St. Anthony Falls was a
commercial hub during the early development of the City
of Minneapolis.
Site investigations conducted in 1999 and 2000 indicate
that historic activities at the site have resulted in a release
of poly-nuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to site
soils. Chemical analyses showed PAHs present in the fill
at levels above Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
(MPCA) human health based screening criteria.
Contaminated fill was found on both blocks of the site, and
it is not clear where the contaminated fill originated,
however, it appears that it would have been placed at the
site sometime between 1940 and 1950. Contaminants
include PAHs in soil from historic fill that was used to
raise the grade of Block 41 and PAHs in fill from a
building foundation on Block 40. Petroleum contamination
from a former underground storage tank leaksite (closed by
the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency) and chlorinated
solvents are also present in the soil and groundwater.
PROPOSED SITE REUSE PLAN
In order to redevelop the site, fill will be excavated to an
average depth of 5 feet on Block 41 and 13 feet on Block
40, amounting to 25,000 tons of contaminated soil. This
contaminated soil will be transported to an off-site disposal
facility. Following cleanup, Fire Barn will construct a
$30-million redevelopment complex that will include 30
affordable housing units, 48 townhomes, 15,000 square
feet of commercial/retail space and 30,000 square feet of
commercial/office space.
BCRLF LOAN LEVERAGING
The $240,000 BCRLF loan will return over $30 million in
development and create over 275 full time, permanent
jobs.
CONTACTS
Deborah DeLuca, Hennepin County BCRLF Coordinator
(612)348-9938
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Coordinator (312) 886-7576
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
Hennepin County, MN
EPA 500-F-01-002
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