RCRA Brownfields
Prevention Initiative:
Targeted Site Efforts
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.
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Brownfields Prevention Initiative is a U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency effort designed to use opportunities for statutory and regulatory
flexibility in the RCRA cleanup program to accelerate site cleanup, facilitate dialogue, and integrate
reuse and redevelopment issues, as appropriate, into cleanup decisions. In the longer term, it is EPA's
goal that this initiative will help accelerate cleanups at brownfields sites, thus enabling the creation of
new jobs, businesses, and green space for communities. The RCRA Targeted Site Efforts (TSEs) are
designed to showcase Brownfields and RCRA Cleanup Reforms and emphasize the importance of
addressing brownfields issues in RCRA cleanups.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has
created this fact sheet to inform the public about eight
new RCRA Brownfields Targeted Site Effort (TSE)
projects. The primary goal of these projects is to
"jump-start" activities at the project sites which will
move these sites closer to cleanup and redevelopment.
Through the TSE projects, sites with redevelopment
potential have been identified and EPA has internally
allocated a limited pool of resources to support short-
term activities directed at overcoming barriers to
cleanup and redevelopment.
The eight TSE projects selected by EPA are:
• Forestville Industrial Plating, Southington,
Connecticut: Forestville Industrial Plating is a small
family-owned metal plating facility located in the
potential environmental justice area of Southington.
The facility is a "high-priority" RCRA facility.
Additional data collection is warranted due to
unknown groundwater contaminant sources in the
area and the existence of private wells. TSE
contractor support is proposed to be used to collect
site-specific data needed to evaluate sources of
groundwater contamination in the area and clarify if
the site will not need to take further action related to
this contamination. Assistance through the TSE
initiative contributes to RCRA corrective action
objectives being met, with the ultimate purpose of
keeping the property in productive use while
protecting human health and the environment.
Forestville Industrial Plating TSE Contacts:
Edgar Davis, EPA Region 1, (617) 918-1379
Carolyn Casey, EPA Region 1, (617) 918-1368
Gaston Copper Recycling Corp., Gaston, South
Carolina: The Gaston Copper Recycling
Corporation facility is a 400-acre, former secondary
copper smelting facility located south of Gaston.
The facility started reducing operations in January
1995 and is in the last stages of decommissioning.
The site is an ideal candidate for redevelopment,
with good infrastructure, transportation access, and
a nearby labor market. A stakeholder group
consisting of the site owner and local elected
officials was formed in early 2001 to expedite the
cleanup process. TSE contractor support is proposed
to be used to enhance the involvement of the public
in decisions about the expedited correction action
plans and redevelopment of the site. This will help
all stakeholders to provide input early in the
corrective action process as recommended by the
Corrective Action Reforms Initiative.
Gaston Copper Recycling Corp. TSE Contacts:
Channing Bennett, EPA Region 4, (404) 562-8474
Muskegon Heights-Safety Kleen, Muskegon
Heights, Michigan: The Safety-Kleen facility in
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Muskegon Heights, Michigan, has been selected as a
RCRA Brownfields Prevention Pilot. The City of
Muskegon Heights operated a municipal wastewater
treatment plant for 50 years at the site until it was
leased in 1974 to a hazardous waste treatment
company that treated electroplating wastes. The
proposed goals of the Pilot are to use the Michigan
Memorandum of Understanding, apply Michigan's
non-RCRA risk and land use clean-up criteria,
develop a corrective action strategy, negotiate a
consent agreement for corrective action
implementation, and obtain a comfort letter from
EPA to help resolve purchaser liability concerns. The
issue of contamination in the water and sediment of
the adjacent Little Black Creek has been raised as a
concern that may affect the proposed residential
redevelopment of the site. Public outreach has been
identified as a critical component to ensuring the
successful redevelopment of the site. TSE contractor
support is proposed to be used to help local residents
understand the corrective action process. Since the
end goal for the site is residential land use, the
community is concerned about public health and the
environment, particularly in light of environmental
justice concerns in the community.
Muskegon Heights-Safety Kleen TSE Contacts:
Ann Wentz, EPA Region 5, (312) 886-8097
Chemical Recovery Corporation, Kansas City,
Missouri: The Chemical Recovery Corporation
facility is a former fire station with historical and
architectural significance within the community. The
site is underused and lies within Blue Valley RCRA
Brownfields Pilot study area. Additional
investigation of the potential for soil contamination
is necessary to determine if further action at this
facility is needed prior to redevelopment. TSE
contractor support is proposed to be used to conduct
the needed additional soils characterization. Provided
that chemical constituent levels in soils remain
consistent with previously collected data, a "no
further action" determination may be made for the
site. The site may then be available for reuse,
potentially emphasizing its historical significance.
Chemical Recovery Corporation TSE Contacts:
Stephanie Doolan, EPA Region 7, (913) 551-7719
Milt Adams, Inc., Commerce City, Colorado: Milt
Adams, Inc. (Approved Oil Services, Inc.) is a "high-
priority" RCRA site and a RCRA Brownfield Pilot
located within the Denver metropolitan area in
Commerce City. As a result of used oil recycling and
transportation operations from 1972 to 1998, the
site's soils have been contaminated with petroleum
hydrocarbons and other organic contaminants. The
site offers good rail and road access and is expected
to be redeveloped quickly following completion of
corrective action activities. However, the owner of
the site is bankrupt, and no cleanup activities are
occurring. EPA is working to establish a voluntary
cleanup process with the site owner and other
companies who managed used oil at the site. TSE
contractor support is slated to support outreach to
affected residents and other stakeholders
Milt Adams, Inc. TSE Contacts:
Bill Rothenmeyer, EPA Region 8, (303) 312-6045
Carl Daly, EPA Region 8, (303) 312-6416
STEDCO Mill, Confederated Tribes of the Siletz,
Oregon: The STEDCO mill is an idled lumber mill
adjacent to the Yaquina River in Lincoln County,
Oregon. The tribes acquired the mill in 1995 for the
purpose of economic redevelopment. The previous
owner/operator, which no longer exists, did not fully
characterize the site prior to its sale. Further site
assessment is necessary to identify the extent of
contamination in both the surface soil and
groundwater. TSE contractor support is proposed to
be used to help complete the site assessment on
portions of the property not yet investigated. It is
hoped that EPA's site assessment support to the
tribes will result in both environmental benefit from
the control of any releases from the site and
economic benefit for the tribe and local community
through redevelopment of the property.
STEDCO Mill, Confederated Tribes of the Siletz
TSE Contacts:
Bruce Long, EPA Region 10 (503) 326-3686
Mike Slater, EPA Region 10, (503) 326-5872
Philip Services Corporation, Seattle,
Washington: The Philips Services Corporation
operates a hazardous waste treatment and storage
facility located in Georgetown, a mixed
residential/industrial district of south Seattle.
Releases from the facility have contaminated
groundwater, and pose a potential threat to human
health. The extent of the contamination currently is
being investigated by the facility operators, and the
plume apparently extends at least one mile west of
the facility towards the Duwamish River. The
facility operators are planning interim actions in the
near future to control the source of the groundwater
contamination.The Georgetown area is experiencing
a wave of redevelopment and the community is
concerned about the facility's impact on human
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health and the environment. TSE contractor support
is proposed to facilitate additional community
involvement and dialogue between neighbors, the
facility operators, EPA, and other agencies to help
develop consensus on cleanup and future use
decisions for the site and possibly affected areas.
Philip Services Corporation TSE Contacts:
Howard (Mean, EPA Region 10, (206) 553-2851
Mike Slater, EPA Region 10, (503) 326-5872
Note: The discussion of each TSE in this fact sheet is based
on preliminary information on site facts and TSE project goals.
It should be noted that EPA will determine the final goals and
activities of each project as the workplan for each project is
developed.
ADDITIONAL INITIATIVE COMPONENTS
In addition to the Targeted Site Efforts, the RCRA
Brownfields Prevention Initiative includes RCRA
Brownfields pilots, training and outreach, and
streamlining and clarifying the cleanup and reuse
process.
EPA has launched nine unfunded RCRA Brownfields
Prevention pilot projects to showcase the flexibility in
RCRA, and in particular, some of the concepts
embodied in RCRA Cleanup Reforms. The goal of this
effort is to showcase successes that can help other
communities in modeling future innovations for cleanup
and redevelopment at RCRA sites. Although these
pilots will emphasize flexibility, EPA and the states will
continue to ensure protection of human health and the
environment.
The Training and Outreach component of the initiative
will focus on workshops in each EPA Region. The
purposes of the workshops are to: 1) educate RCRA
staff about brownfields tools that can help expedite
cleanup and redevelopment; 2) educate brownfields
staff about the special needs and opportunities of RCRA
sites; and 3) promote interaction with stakeholders
outside of EPA to incorporate their ideas and address
their concerns.
RCRA Corrective Action Reforms are a comprehensive
effort to address the key impediments to cleanups,
maximize program flexibility, and spur progress
towards a set of ambitious national cleanup goals. The
RCRA Brownfields Prevention Initiative enhances
implementation of the RCRA reforms by clarifying the
role of reuse in the cleanup process and streamlining
cleanup approaches.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information on EPA's Corrective Action
Reforms, please visit the RCRA corrective action web
site at http://www.epa.gov/correctiveaction. For more
information about the RCRA Brownfields Initiative
pilots and other brownfields program initiatives please
visit the brownfields program web site at
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields.
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United States Solid Waste EPA 500-F-01 -351
Environmental and Emergency October 2001
T-, , ,• « T, /£-I/AI\ www.epa.eov/browniields/
Protection Agency Response (5101)
Washington, D.C. 20460
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