From the Ground Up,
0 i Springfield Builds
'^~/ Momentum in Redeveloping
* its Brownfields
L
Springfield, Ohio
ike so many typical industrial, Midwestern cities, the City of
Springfield, Ohio suffered an economic downturn in the 1970s and
80s, with the closure of some of its longest-running industrial facilities.
Some of those facilities sat idle or underutilized for decades despite
their enviable locations, with developers held at bay by fears of liability
for any residual contamination. But today, through the efforts and
determination of the city, its partnerships with the state and federal
Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA), and its collaboration with
the private sector, Springfield is undergoing a transformation. Within
the last few years, the city has seen the redevelopment of some of its
most significant brownfields in projects that have leveraged hundreds of
millions of dollars and created a renewed economic outlook.
Among Springfield's most dramatic examples is the former Bayley
industrial facility, a 1.17-acre site used for wrought iron manufacturing
for more than a century. In spite of the property's prime location, on a
ridge with beautiful views of Buck Creek and the Veteran's Memorial
Park, it had only been used for warehousing and light industry since the
Bayley facility's closure in 1984.
In 2002, Springfield's two competing hospitals formed a partnership to
build a comprehensive cancer treatment center. At the time, area cancer
patients had to travel to Columbus or Dayton for treatment. Originally,
these partners planned to develop on an unused greenfield. When the
city suggested the former Bayley site, the hospitals acknowledged it as a
perfect location, but also expressed several reservations. They questioned
whether the site's suspected contamination could be removed to
commercial standards, let alone those for a health facility. There was also
doubt as to whether the site could be prepared quickly enough to fit their
tight redevelopment schedule, given the complications often associated
with contaminated land. To ease these concerns, the city held a meeting
with hospital representatives, the State of Ohio EPA (OH EPA), and other
project stakeholders. The city and OH EPA explained how brownfields
can be safely redeveloped to even hospital standards and the availability
of liability protections at the state and federal levels.
With a go-ahead from all parties, the city performed a full environmental
investigation of the property, using $30,000 of a $200,000 U.S. EPA
Brownfields Assessment Pilot grant awarded to Springfield in 1999.
This investigation revealed contaminants including volatile organic
Springfield's new cancer treatment center offers a
tranquil setting for patients and guests.
JUST THE FACTS:
• Two partnering hospitals looking
to build a new cancer-treatment
center questioned whether a former
industrial site could be cleaned to
commercial standards, let alone
those for a health facility.
• The city held a meeting with hospital
representatives, OH EPA, and other
project stakeholders to explain
how brownfields can be cleaned
to even hospital standards and the
availability of federal and state
liability protections.
• Cleanup took less than three months,
and the site became the first enrolled
in the state's Voluntary Action
Program—under a Memorandum
of Agreement with U.S. EPA—to
receive a Covenant Not to Sue letter
from OH EPA.
Less than one year after the site's
cleanup, Springfield's $10 million,
state-of-the-art cancer treatment
center opened its doors, offering
patients local access to chemo and
radiation therapies.
continued
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compounds (VOCs), total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), other
heavy metals, asbestos, and two underground storage tanks (USTs) used for heating oil. Cleanup
involved UST removal, soil excavation, and the use of clean soil to fill excavated areas. To help fund
the more than $800,000 cleanup, the city used approximately $300,000 from a $1 million U.S. EPA
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (BCRLF) grant awarded in 2002. The entire cleanup
took less than three months, and the site became the first enrolled in the state's Voluntary Action
Program (VAP)—under a Memorandum of Agreement with U.S. EPA—to receive a Covenant Not
to Sue (CNS) letter from OH EPA. The CNS assures the developers that they will not be held liable
in the unlikely event that any pre-existing contaminants are found after the state's safe cleanup
determination.
"With brownfields communities
you get a lot of pessimism; people get
resigned that nothing will change. Now we
have all this momentum, and you can see the
change in people's perceptions. People are
knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the
projects going on. We've gone from a time
of no change to where former
industrial properties are being
seen with potential."
On August 2, 2004, less than one year after the site's cleanup,
Springfield's new, state-of-the-art cancer treatment center opened its
doors. This $10 million facility offers patients access to chemo
and radiation therapies, and outpatient oncology; and houses a
community resource library, a prayer/meditation room, and
natural gardens that provide a peaceful environment for
both patients and their visitors. The treatment rooms also
incorporate natural lighting into their design, which provides a
comfortable atmosphere and reduces energy consumption.
—Shannon Meadows,
Executive Assistant
to the City Manager
Like the Bayley site, Springfield's former SPECO-Kelsey
Hayes property had an industrial legacy going back to the
1800s, when the site's facility was used to build hydraulic
turbines for the Mast-Foos Manufacturing Company. In
1916, after the property's use for nearly a decade as a brewing
facility, the Steel Products Engineering Company (SPECO)
began operations on the seven-acre site. During World War II, the
facility transitioned to military production, which continued during the
Vietnam War, when the plant was used to assemble helicopter components for the U.S. Department
of Defense. The facility shut down in the late 1970s, when the company consolidated and transitioned
its operations to another part of the city. The idle property was purchased by a private owner who
converted the plant into a cold-storage facility that operated until the late 1990s. The city wanted to
perform environmental investigations on the property using its 1999 Brownfields Assessment Pilot
grant, but the owner refused site access.
Eventually, the site's owner was willing to cooperate with a private developer that expressed interest
in purchasing the property for cleanup and resale. Following negotiations with the owner and
potential buyer, the city conducted initial environmental assessments. More detailed assessments
were performed using approximately $30,000 of a $400,000 U.S. EPA Brownfields Assessment grant
received by Springfield in 2004. These assessments revealed contaminants including petroleum,
asbestos, PCBs, lead, and PAHs in the soil. The developer purchased the property once site
investigations were complete.
The city entered into a Cooperative Redevelopment Agreement (CRA) with the site's new owner
in which the city would fund and oversee most of the cleanup, and the owner would ensure the safe
closure of the site's underground storage tanks. In this arrangement, the city provided a $35,000
continued
Brownfields Success Story
Springfield Builds Momentum in Redeveloping its Brownfields
Springfield, MO
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA-560-F-09-020
February 2009
www. epa.gov/brownfields/
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community improvement grant; and used $750,000 from the state's
Clean Ohio Assistance Program, $156,000 from the Brownfields Cleanup
Revolving Loan Fund, and a $200,000 Brownfields Cleanup grant awarded
by EPA in 2004 to demolish structures and remove contaminants. In
October 2006, as they had for the former Bayley property, the OH EPA
issued a Covenant Not to Sue on this former industrial site.
With cleanup complete and liability protections in place, the property was
resold in January 2007 to a local, industrial gas supplier with plans to
relocate their regional headquarters to the site.
As part of the CRA between the city and prior owner, profits from the
property's sale were split evenly; the city's proceeds were used to return
capital to the BCRLF and provide the city with resources to transform other
local brownfields. Construction of the company's new headquarters was
completed in Spring 2008.
The successful cleanup and reuse of the former Bayley and SPECO-Kelsey
Hayes brownfields, which represented some of the city's oldest industrial
sites, have helped to catalyze other redevelopment projects in downtown
Springfield—including a 40-acre site being transformed into a $350 million,
regional medical facility. And on the site of a former wire and spring
manufacturer, the city used an EPA Brownfields Assessment grant to fund
environmental investigations and develop a cleanup plan. With cleanup complete, the site's owner plans
to return the property to industrial use.
Demolition of structures underway on the former SPECO
Kelsey-Hayes site.
CONTACTS:
For more information contact
U.S. EPA REGION 5
(312)886-7576
Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
"We've done some amazing work in this community," explains Shannon
Meadows, Executive Assistant to the City Manager. "This was a
program that was struggling back in the late 1990s. With brownfields
communities you get a lot of pessimism; people get resigned
that nothing will change. Now we have all this momentum,
and you can see the change in people's perceptions. People
are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the projects going
on. We've gone from a time of no change to where former
industrial properties are being seen with potential."
Brownfields Success Story
Springfield Builds Momentum in Redeveloping its Brownfie/ds
Springfield, MO
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA-560-F-09-020
February 2009
www. epa.gov/brownfie/ds/
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