United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-306
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
v>EPA Brownfields Supplemental
Assistance
Cedar Rapids, 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 worktogether in atimelymannerto prevent, assess, and safely clean up brownfieldsto promote
their sustainable reuse. Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion
or redevelopment is complicated by real orperceivedenvironmentalcontamination.EPAisfunding: assessment demonstration
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years, with additional funding provided for greenspace), to test
assessment models and facilitate coordinated assessment and cleanup efforts at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels;
and job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities
affected by brownfieldsto facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and preparetraineesforfuture employment intheenvironmental
field; and, a cleanup revolving loan fund program (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years) to provide financial assistance
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 City of Cedar Rapids to
receive supplemental assistance for its Brownfields
Assessment Demonstration Pilot. Cedar Rapids
(population 108,751) is the largest community in
eastern Iowa. There are several areas in the city,
including the targeted South-Side neighborhood,
with disproportionately high numbers of elderly,
low-income, andminorityresidents. Unemployment
in the targeted area is 13 percent, and 30 percent of
the area's population lives in poverty. Nearly 38
percent of the area's residents are elderly, and 28
percent of the residents are minority.
The original Pilot targeted three sites—a former
meat-processing facility, a building that housed a
steel fabricating business, and an abandoned iron
foundry—for assessment to facilitate cleanup and
redevelopment. Phase I and Phase II environmental
site assessments have been conducted on the latter
two of the properties, and demolition of structures
on the properties is in progress. Funding from the
supplemental grant will be usedto carry out additional,
post-demolition assessments on the two properties
and to conduct Phase I and Phase II assessments at
the former meat-processing facility. This site has
been designated as two parcels: a five-acre former
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Award: April 2001
Amount: $150,000
Profile: The Pilot will target
two sitesf rom the original Pilot
in theSouth-Side neighborhood
forfollow-upassessmentsand
one site for initial Phase I and
Phase II assessments.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Contacts:
City of Cedar Rapids
Department of Development
(319)286-5041
Regional Brownfields 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
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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factory parking lot, and the Sinclair Business Park, a
30-acre parcel that hasbeen providing moderate -cost
commercial and warehouse space in the old industrial
buildings. Both parcels have been in industrial use for
the past 130 years.
OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES
The city's goal is to build on the original Pilot's efforts
and to continue to address the environmental issues
associated with the cleanup and redevelopment of the
South-Side neighborhood. The objective is to revitalize
the local economy and improve the quality of life in
this disadvantagedneighborhood.
The Pilot plans to:
• Conduct follow-up, Phase III site assessments
following the demolition of structures at the former
Iowa Iron Works and Iowa Steel sites;
• Continue negotiations with the owners of the former
meat-processing facility to either purchase the
property or obtain access to perform environmental
assessments;
• Conduct Phase I and Phase II site assessments at
the former meat-processing facility; and
• Identify and inventory additional brownfields in the
Pilot area.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Supplemental Assistance Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Apr/12001 EPA 500-F-01-306
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