ural Revitalization:
EPA's Brownfields Program Working Wit,,
Small And Rural Communities
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Total grant awarded to places not
In a metro or mlcro-polltan statistical
areas (MSA) or In MSAs with
populations of 250,000 or less.*
• There are 87 communities
with a population less than
10,000 receiving 8% of total
grant funding
• There are 152 communities
with a population less than
25,000 receiving 15% of total
grant funding
• There are 209 communities
with a population less than
50,000 receiving 21% of total
grant funding
•These numbers were calculated
by linking the zip codes of grant
recipients to U.S. Census Bureau data
for populations in incoporated places
and Core Based Statistical Areas
(CBSAs) from 2009 data.
Introduction
EPA's Brownfields Program provides many grants
to rural and tribal communities to help them
address brownfields cleanup and redevelopment
issues. Rural brownfields may present unique
characteristics such as pesticide and lime wastes
associated with manufacturing activities, wastes
from mining operations, old or abandoned mills,
abandoned gas stations, manufacturing sites, and
vacant and abandoned buildings. Rural communities
with brownfields also face unique challenges due
to limited planning capacity in rural areas, limited
capital funding and investment options, and lack of
understanding of brownfields challenges among key
stakeholders.
Brownfields are vacant and under used parcels of
land, which can be eyesores to communities and
may threaten public health. A brownfield is a "real
property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse
of which may be complicated by the presence
or potential presence of a hazardous substance,
pollutant, or contaminant."
Since 2009, EPA funded 87 communities with
populations under 10,000 (representing 8% of total
grant funding) and more than 150 communities with
populations under 25,000 (representing 15% of total
grant funding).
This fact sheet highlights several examples of how
EPA Brownfields grants and funding are assisting
rural and tribal areas to assess, clean up and
revitalize properties within their communities.
Assisting Rural Communities
in Addressing Brownfields
Technical Assistance to Colorado's Sugar Beet
Factories: Colorado used to have the largest
number of sugar beet factories in the United States.
Today, only one of its 22 sugar beet factories (in Fort
Morgan) remains open; the rest are closed or have
ceased operations based on challenges facing the
sugar industry. These challenges range from market
conditions, water limitations, labor shortages, and
other economic factors. These sites are located in
rural to semi-rural areas and tend to be large and
contain large piles of lime waste—a by-product of
sugar beet processing and now a dust pollutant.
An EPA-funded Technical Assistance Team
inventoried the Colorado sugar beet factories,
supported development of a business model,
and held stakeholder outreach activities for
redevelopment activities or reuse opportunities for
the communities. Of the 22 identified active and
former sugar beet processing facilities, information
was collected to support a business redevelopment
model (locations with redevelopment advantages)
for three rural Colorado towns, Fort Morgan, Ovid
and Sterling, who are actively applying for EPA
Brownfield Assessment grants. The focus of the
model is on reuse opportunities that may have
advantages to prospective new business employers,
as well as alternatives for the reuse of the existing
lime waste.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the Fort Morgan
population was 11,034; Sterling has a population of
11,360; and Ovid operates as a statutory town, with
a 2000 U.S. Census population of 330. Currently,
the Colorado Brownfields Foundation, the Colorado
Department of Local Affairs, local stakeholders, and
other federal and state partners are assembling
together to formulate strategies for sugar beet
factory redevelopment in these rural settings. While
many sites remain abandoned, some have been
redeveloped as recreational areas, storage silos, or
put to full or partial use for commercial, industrial or
public works purposes.
Fort Morgan - Colorado's Last Operational Sugar Beet Factory
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Promoting Sustainable Rural Communities: EPA
Region 7 and the Office of Sustainable Communities,
with funding from the Land Revitalization Program,
are helping rural communities in Kansas incorporate
sustainability and green infrastructure into
community redevelopment plans.
In Kansas, EPA performed site reviews locating
properties that match local codes and policies for
reuse and redevelopment. The search determined
that two vacant lots and a former auto dealership
in Ellis (population 2,000), and a closed landfill in
Kansas City, suited the redevelopment plans and
policies for each of the communities.
EPA Region 7 conducted site visits in June 2010,
with the audit reports completed shortly thereafter.
The audits resulted in recommendations on the
potential use of vacant lots, improved streetscaping,
anticipated transit-oriented development, and other
infrastructure design possibilities in each of the
communities.
Assisting rural communities—that might typically
have less access to resources—with learning about
and incorporating smart growth and sustainability
principles into redevelopment plans is one way EPA
is working to address brownfields in small and rural
communities.
Supporting Revitalization and Sustainability on
Tribal Lands: Tribes face many of the same types
of challenges found in small or rural communities
in the United States. Tribes typically do not have
the funding or technical resources that larger
communities have, nor the economic drivers
associated with more dense populations that might
spur cleanup and reuse. Tribes may seek to return
contaminated land to a non-economic reuse,
such as returning land to a culturally beneficial
reuse. To clean up and reuse contaminated lands
in Indian country, many tribes create brownfields
programs or "Tribal Response Programs." Since
tribal communities often lack funding to sustain
so--
environmental program capacity
building, EPA offers technical
assistance and expertise to
address brownfields in these
often rural communities.
In Region 8, the Spirit Lake
Nation began assessing,
remediating and restoring former
brownfields over a decade
ago. The tribe, population 6,000, resides in rural
Fort Totten, North Dakota. The tribe addresses
environmental challenges through EPA technical
assistance and funding, such as Assessment,
Cleanup, Job Training, and Section 128(a) Tribal
Response grants. EPA funding spawned over
18 environmental assessments and cleanups,
trained the locals to perform the cleanups, and
helped the tribe set its Environmental/Solid Waste
Ordinance. Assessment and cleanup projects include
rehabilitating former buildings into apartments,
community centers and schools, as well as
remediating the historic Fort Totten Calvary Square
complex.
Spirit Lake Nation also received support to create
a tribal leadership team and develop a sustainable
recovery plan, the Spirit Lake Nation Recovery
Plan. It is the first tribe to receive FEMA's Long-
term Community Recovery technical assistance.
The recovery plan sets the groundwork for flood
impact analysis, sustainable living, smart growth,
green infrastructure, and it demonstrates available
resources and addresses long-term disaster impacts.
The success of the tribe's cleanup efforts and
revitalization has brought jobs to the rural community
and preserved properties of historical significance.
The Spirit Lake Nation is a community that realized
the benefits of EPA and other federal agency
assistance to build a greener and sustainable future
for itself.
Auto Dealership in Ellis, Iowa
Spirt Lake Nation in Fort Totten, ND
Former Sugar Beet Factory in Eaton, CO
&EFK
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
April 201
Office of Brownfields and
Land Revitalization
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