United States
                   Environmental
                   Protection Agency
                   Washington,  D.C. 20460
 Solid Waste
 and Emergency
 Response (5101)
  EPA 500-F-00-012
  April 2000
  www.epa.gov/brownfields/
   <&EPA  Brownfields  Supplemental
                   Assistance
                                                             Des Moines,  IA
 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), 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 brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
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 awarded the City of Des Moines supplemental
assistance for its Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot. The city will focus on the 300-
acre Riverpoint West area located just south of the
central business district. The area is characterized by
underused industrial parcels, anumber of deteriorated
structures, and real and perceived contamination
from years of use for  rail yards, newspaper and
magazine printing, paint  manufacturing, foundry
operations, asphalt paving, and industrial chemical
manufacturing operations.  Phase I environmental
assessments conducted across the  targeted area
indicate potential soil andgroundwater contamination.
The area is located in a census tract that has a family
poverty rate of 37.8 percent.  It also has  several
designations (e.g., urban renewal area, tax increment
finance district, urban revitalization tax abatement
area, and Gateway Enterprise  Zone) that offer an
array of economic development incentives to revitalize
the community.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
  Des Moines, Iowa
   Date of Announcement:
   March 2000

   Amount: $150,000

   Profile: The Pilot will target
   the300-acre Riverpoint Wfest
   area located just south ofthe
   city's central business
   district.
Contacts:
City of Des Moines
(515)237-1351
Regional Brown fields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 7
(913)551-7786
     Visit the EPA Region 7 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region07/specinit/brown/brownfields.htm

   Forfurther 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 AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES

The Pilot will coordinate  these supplemental
assessment efforts with the other city initiatives—
including a major transportation project and cleanup
of other contaminated properties—to convert the
area into a vibrant urban village and help support
sustainable growth in the downtown  area.  The
proj ect seeks to utilize existing infrastructure and will
provide low-rise residential and office space, a large
public open space, and apedestrian-friendly design to
encourage walking and biking to the downtown area
and to nearby natural resources such as Gray's Lake
and the Waterworks Park. The city will partner with
the Des Moines Development Corporation (DMDC)
to accomplish these objectives. The city will address
environmental concerns and public infrastructure to
serve the area and the DMDC will acquire the needed
property and prepare it for redevelopment.

To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to:

• Conduct Phase II environmental assessments  on
  properties totaling approximately 175 acres in the
  Riverpoint West area;

• Prepare cleanup cost estimates and a cleanup
  implementation plan;

• Coordinate with the  DMDC  to leverage a
  redevelopment feasibility study, draft a property
  acquisition plan, develop a land use redevelopment
  plan, and create a flow of ownership plan; and

• Encourage active community involvement in the
  decision-making process regarding assessment and
  cleanup of the area.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this factsheetare subjectto change.
 Brownfields Supplemental Assistance                                                      Des Moines, Iowa
 April 2000                                                                         EPA 500-F-00-012

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