&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-340
September 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Brownfields Success Stories
Shreveport's Revolving Loan Fund:
Building for the Future
SHREVEPORT RLF
he City of Shreveport, Louisiana, is receiving $400,000
from the city's Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund
(BCRLF) Pilot. The loan funds will be used for the cleanup of
a 20-acre brownfield that is being redeveloped into a new
convention center. The project is leading the way for the
revitalization of Shreveport's urban center and is expected to
leverage more than $100 million in public and private funding
for redevelopment in downtown Shreveport and create more
than 4,000 jobs.
To date, EPA has awarded 104 BCRLF Pilots. The purpose of
these Pilots is to enable states, cities, and Native American
tribes to make low-interest loans to facilitate the cleanup and
redevelopment of brownfields properties. The program has
already leveraged more than $50 million in redevelopment
funding from the BCRLF loans issued to date. The City of
Shreveport received its BCRLF Pilot loan in June 2000. The
loan will be good for five years and no interest will accrue.
Shreveport's new convention center will be located in what is
known as the Cross Bayou area, which is adjacent to the
riverfront as well as the downtown commercial district. The site
is also next to one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city,
continued ^
JUST THE FACTS:
• BCRLF funding will be used to clean
up a half-acre portion of the conven-
tion center property that is known as the
SWEPCO (Southwestern Electric
Power Company) site.
• Environmental assessments discovered
the presence of several contaminants in
amounts that exceed state screening
standards, requiring soil excavation.
• This redevelopment proj ect is expected
to leverage more than $100 million in
public and private funding for redevel-
opment in downtown Shreveport and to
create more than 4,000 jobs.
Redevelopment of one of Shreveport's
brownfields into a new convention center
will add momentum to the city's efforts to
restore its aging commercial district, and
in turn benefit local residents who have
suffered as a result of the area's
depressed economy.
ERA'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.
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Ledbetter Heights, which has a poverty rate of 79.4 percent and an
unemployment rate of about 20 percent. Shreveport's urban area has
suffered greatly from the collapse of the oil industry in the 1980s, which
resulted in the loss of 10,000 jobs and hundreds of acres of abandoned
industrial properties. Although the city has started to see growth after the
"oil bust" of the 1980s, most of the recent development has occurred in
the outlying agricultural lands and has neglected the inner city.
CONTACTS:
BCRLF Pilot funding will be used to clean up a half-acre portion of the
convention center property that is known as the SWEPCO
(Southwestern Electric Power Company) site. In March of 2000,
environmental assessments discovered the presence of volatile organic
compounds (VOCs), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy
metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and total petroleum hydrocarbons
(TPHs) in amounts that exceed Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
screening standards. Soil excavation will be required to remove these hazardous materials
from the site.
Redevelopment of one of Shreveport's brownfields with the new convention center will add
momentum to the city's efforts to restore its aging commercial district. This will in turn
benefit local residents who have suffered from the area's depressed economy. The BCRLF
loan is expected to leverage $85 million in bond funds from the convention center, $25 million
in private development funds, $6 million in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development-Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) funds ($1 million
BEDI grant plus $5 million through Section 108), and $6.5 million from the Red River
Waterway Commission. The convention center and associated development projects will
create an estimated 1,100 jobs, and thousands of additional jobs will be created in association
with construction and other redevelopment projects in the area surrounding the convention
center. For more information on the Shreveport BCRLF Pilot, contact Arlena Acree in the
Department of Economic Development: (318) 673-7515.
U.S. EPA
Outreach and Special Projects Staff
(202) 260-4039
Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Success Story
September 2001
Shreveport RLF
EPA 500-F-01-340
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