SEPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-99-297
November 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
Brownfields Success Stories
EPA, EDA Assist Redevelopment
Efforts in Smithville, Texas
n
SMITHVILLE, TX
ue in large part to the cooperation of two Federal
agencies and the State of Texas Voluntary Cleanup Pro-
gram (VCP), a formerly contaminated metal fabrication
plant in Smithville, Texas is now home to a furniture manu-
facturing company.
Before ceasing operations in 1990, the Marhil Manufac-
turing plant produced boat porthole covers and watertight
doors for ships. In 1991, the owners of the contaminated
three-acre Marhil property filed for bankruptcy and aban-
doned the site. Due to the site's prime location for indus-
trial use, the City marshaled its resources toward cleaning
up and redeveloping the property.
In February 1996, at the City's request, the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency (EPA) began site assessments to
determine the extent and nature of the property's contami-
nation. Based on samples collected from waste drums, soils
and foundry sand, EPA discovered xylene, lead, zinc and
iron. EPA concluded that the site's contamination warranted
additional resources from the Agency's Targeted
Brownfields Assessment (TEA) program. The TEA pro-
gram was designed to minimize the uncertainties surround-
ing the actual or perceived contamination on sites such as
JUST THE FACTS:
• In 1991, the owners of the contaminated three-
acre Marhil Manufacturing property filed for
bankruptcy and abandoned the site.
• Based on samples collected from waste drums.
soils and foundry sand, EPA discovered
xylene, lead, zinc and iron on the site.
• EPA assisted Smithville in acquiring aid from
the Economic Development Administration
(EDA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce
and its technical assistance program.
• A $23,500 EDA grant and $7,3 84 from the city
funded an asbestos survey, blueprints for the
buildings on the property, and a marketing plan
to sell the property upon cleanup.
In addition to site assessment work,
EPA assisted Smithville in acquiring
aid from the Economic Development
Administration of the U.S. Department
of Commerce. EPA also worked with
the Texas Voluntary Cleanup Program,
which provided cleanup assistance
and a liability waiver.
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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Marhil Manufacturing. Aside from site contamination, the buildings interiors were also
found to be in disrepair. Workers discovered birds' nests in the rafters, holes in the roof,
and uneven flooring.
In addition to its site assessment work, EPA assisted Smithville in acquiring aid from the
Economic Development Administration (EDA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce
and its technical assistance program. EPA also worked with the Texas VCP, which pro-
vided cleanup assistance and a liability waiver. With a $23,500 EDA grant and an addi-
tional $7,384 in City monies, Smithville funded an asbestos survey, blueprints for the
buildings on the property, and a marketing plan to sell the property upon cleanup. The
partnership between EPA and EDA has developed into a working relationship that has
fostered further collaboration between the organizations.
The City began cleanup in the summer of 1996. In March 1997, the City acquired the
property through a tax foreclosure sale and on June 4, 1997, the Texas Natural Re-
sources Conservation Commission issued a Certificate of Completion for the successful
cleanup. City officials plan to keep the property in a structured lease for five-and-a-half
years with the option to buy. A furniture panel manufacturer is currently operating on
the entire property, and has created at least seven new jobs. After two years, the lessee
will have the option to buy the property for its appraised value. Smithville plans
to use the money acquired from leasing the cleaned property to fund
further industrial and municipal developments in the City.
EPA Region 6—encompassing Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma,
New Mexico, and Texas—has received approximately $1.4
million in brownfields site assessment funding to date, in-
cluding $81,883 in TEA funding from EPA. Seven Region 6
properties are currently targeted under the Targeted
Brownfields Assessment program, and 14 others have had
assessments completed. For more information on EPA's TEA
program, contact Stan Hitt, EPA Region 6 Coordinator, at
(214) 665-6736.
CONTACTS:
Stan Hitt, U.S. EPA
Region 6 Coordinator
(214)665-6736
Visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
SMITHVILL
Brownfields Success Story
November 1999
Smithville, TX
EPA 500-F-99-297
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