United States
                      Environmental
                      Protection Agency
                      Washington, D.C. 20460
                        Solid Waste
                        and Emergency
                        Response(5101)
EPA500-F-99-155
June 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
   SEPA
Brownfields  Assessment
Demonstration  Pilot
                          Spirit  Lake Nation,  ND
 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 the Spirit Lake Nation of North
Dakota for a Brownfields Pilot.  The Spirit Lake
Nationhas apopulation of approximately 5,300 enrolled
members and an additional non-native population of
approximately 1,500.  There are five Indian bands
within the  Nation,  most  of whom  reside in  four
community districts and five townships.  The Spirit
Lake Nation area includes 383 square miles of land
and is located in the northeastern portion of the state.
Nearly 70 percent of the  enrolled members of the
Nation are  under  25 years of age, and  the
unemployment rate on the reservation is 75 percent.

The Pilot targets two vacant buildings—a former
boarding school and a hospital—and two landfills in
the Fort Totten area. Both  of the buildings have large
exterior holes from which suspected asbestos
contamination is released into the environment.  The
landfills were primarily  used for residential,
commercial, and  industrial waste in the 1970s  and
1980s, but the dumping  was unregulated and the
landfills are unlined.
                        PILOTSNAPSHOT
                          Spirit Lake Nation, North Dakota
                                              Dateof Announcement:
                                              June 1999

                                              Amount: $200,000

                                              Profile: The Pilot targets
                                              two potentially contaminated
                                              abandoned buildings and two
                                              unregulated landfills.
                         Contacts:

                         Spirit Lake Nation
                         Tribal Representative
                         (701) 766-4855
 Regional Brownfields Team
 U.S. EPA-Region 8
 (303) 312-6803
                             Visit the EPA Region 8 Brownfields web site at:
                          http://www.epa.gov/region08/cross/brown/brownf.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/


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OBJECTIVES

The Pilot seeks to assess the potential contamination
being released from the buildings and at the landfills.
The principle goal of the Pilot is to eliminate  the
environmental threat to the  tribe and ensure public
safety. Assessment work and other proj ect activities
will be conducted under the auspices of a task force
composed of technical and non-technical staff. The
nation plans to involve and inform  the community
about the Pilot's status and redevelop the properties to
benefit the tribal population.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of the Pilot include:

• Conducting Phase I and II assessments at the four
  targeted properties;

• Developing  a redevelopment plan  for  the four
  properties; and

• Sponsoring community outreach activities about the
  assessment,  cleanup  and  redevelopment of  the
  sites.
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                                       Spirit Lake Nation, North Dakota
 June 1999                                                                           EPA500-F-99-155

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