United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-99-018
March 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
PA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Renton, WA
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. Since 1995, EPA has funded more than 200 Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of
brownfields solutions. The Pilots 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 Renton for a Brownfields
Pilot. Originally a timber and coal town, Renton is
located in southwest Washington about ten miles
northwest of downtown Seattle. The city's industrial
history has resulted in more than 20 brownfields,
most of which are concentrated in the Port Quendall
industrial area located on Lake Washington. More
than 20 percent of the city's 47,000 residents have
low incomes and the poverty rate is 7 percent.
Additionally, Boeing, which represents 50 percent of
the city's employment, has eliminated approximately
8,000 local jobs within the past five years.
In 1996 and 1997, a private developer spent $4
million investigating a 23-acre portion of the Port
Quendall industrial area called the Quendall
Terminals site, which operated as a coal tar refining
plantfrom 1916to 1969. The investigation determined
the presence of benzene, creosote, and arsenic in
more than 20 acres of contaminated lake, shoreline,
and inland property. In 1998, the city invested an
additional $600,000 towards the redevelopment of
the Quendall Terminals property. However,
additional environmental assessment, including wood
waste toxicity testing and arsenic sampling of nearby
lake sediments, is required in order to fulfill regulatory
regulations before cleanup and redevelopment may
proceed.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Announcement:
March 1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets the
23-acre Quendall Terminals
site within the Port Quendall
industrial area.
Renton, Washington
Contacts:
City of Renton
Department of Economic
Development
(425) 430-6591
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 10
(206) 553-6523
Visit the EPA Region 10 Brownfields web site at:
http://epainotes1.rtpnc.epa.gov:7777/MO/cleanup.nsf/
webpage/Brownfields
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
With the addition of the Pilot assessment activities at
the Quendall Terminals site, the city plans to create
a public waterfront park and sell the larger portion of
the property for mixed-use redevelopment. The city
anticipates that the redeveloped site will include 1.5
million square feetof office space, ahotel, conference
center, and restaurants, and will create 5,000 new
j obs and significant city, county, and state tax revenue.
Because of its central location, successful
redevelopment of the Quendall Terminals site will
enable redevelopment of a larger, 68-acre area. The
cleanup of these properties will involve restoration
of Lake Washington shoreline, which in turn will
benefit many wildlife species, including sockeye and
chinook salmon. The city park will provide permanent
public access to the lake and recreational
opportunities.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Performing arsenic and wood waste sediment
characterization immediately offshore the Quendall
Terminals property;
• Completing the cleanup action plan and agreements
with the Washington State Department of Ecology
(WSDE);
• Facilitating cleanup and re storation with the WSDE,
Port of Seattle, King County, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, and private developers;
• Leveraging $400,000 for shoreline restoration from
the WSDE; and
• Leveraging additional cleanup and redevelopment
funding and technical assistance from the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, the Port of Seattle, King
County, and private developers.
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 Renton, Washington
March 1999 EPA 500-F-99-018
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