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Brownfields 2007
Grant Fact Sheet
Marion, IA
EPA Brownfields Program
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. Abrownfield site is real property, the
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed
into law the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the
Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to
eligible applicants through four competitive grant
programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund
grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Addi-
tionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal
response programs through a separate mechanism.
Community Description
The City of Marion was selected to receive a
brownfields cleanup grant. Marion (population
26,294), a small east-central Iowa community, was
home to a bustling railroad industry that brought with
it jobs and economic prosperity. The Central Corridor
of Marion became a focus for industry. By the late
1990s, industry moved closer to the highway corridors,
and the railroad was no more than a spur. The decline
in the railroad industry has left behind a legacy of
contamination that threatens the city's water supply
and adversely affects the value of surrounding neigh-
borhoods. There are 281 potential brownfields within
the target area and more than 60 underground storage
tanks within one mile of the Corridor. About 40
percent of the city's residents live in the target area.
The poverty rate in the area is 17.4 percent, nearly
Cleanup Grant
$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the City of Marion for a
brownfields cleanup grant. Hazardous substances
grant funds will be used to clean up about 20
acres of the former Chicago Central and Pacific
Railroad site along 6th Avenue, between 22nd
and 35th Streets. Since 1886, the property has
been used for a railroad roundhouse maintenance
facility, coal storage facility, livestock yard, and
switch yard. Site contaminants include heavy
metals and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons.
Grant funds also will be used to support commu-
nity involvement activities.
Contacts
For further information, including specific grant
contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
news and events, and publications and links, visit
the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/
brownfields.
EPA Region 7 Brownfields Team
800-223-0425
http://www.epa.gov/region7/cleanup/brownfields/
index.htm
Grant Recipient: City of Marion, IA
319-743-6320
The information presented in this fact sheet comes
from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
accuracy of this information. The cooperative
agreement for the grant has not yet been negoti-
ated. Therefore, activities described in this fact
sheet are subject to change.
four times the city rate. The city plans to replace the
rail line at the cleanup site with a trail and landscaped
erosion-control buffer to prevent runoff to adjacent
streams and rivers. The trail and buffer zone will
provide a transition zone between the residential and
commercial areas.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA560-F-07-104
May 2007
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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