United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-97-068
May 1997
Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilot
Puyallup Tribe of Tacoma, WA
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
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. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields
solutions. EPAis funding morethan 27 Pilots in 1997. The Pilots 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 Region 10 selected the Puyallup Tribe for a
Regional Brownfields Pilot. Interest in
redeveloping the Tacoma industrial waterfront area
is shared not only by a Tribal population of
approximately 2,100, but also by the broader
community including the City of Fife, City of
Puyallup, County of Tacoma, and County of Pierce.
The overall population of the project area is about
200,000. Within the waterfront are two key
properties acquired in Trust in 1989 by the Puyallup
Tribe in order to develop a marine terminal on the
lands. However, further study by the Puyallup
Tribe has demonstrated that alone, these Trust
properties are not adequate, due to their size (total
123 acres) and configuration, for building a
marketable-sized terminal. An adjacent 44-acre
parcel, known as the Reichhold Property, also is
needed for the terminal, but it has hazardous waste
problems that are being managed under a RCRA
permit. The Pilot will allow the Puyallup Tribe to
work with Reichhold to plan cleanup, property
acquisition, and redevelopment.
OBJECTIVES
The Puyallup Tribe is working to acquire the
Reichhold Property and construct a large marine
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Tacoma, Washington
Date of Award:
September 1996
Amount: $100,000
Site Profile: The Pilot
targets 167 acres of Tribal
lands located along the
Blair Waterway in
downtown Tacoma.
Contacts:
James J. May
Executive Director
Puyallup International,
Inc.
Puyallup Tribe of Indians
(206) 383-2820
Lori Cohen
U.S. EPA-Region 10
(206) 553-6523
cohen.lori@epamial.epa.gov
Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
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terminal. The Puyallup Tribe plans to use the EPA
grant to assist in the environmental analysis of the
Reichhold Property and coordinate a solution to the
drainage and wetlands issues that is consistent with
the resolution of similar issues on the Tribe's two
Trust properties. Wetlands planning and design work
directed at solutions for both the Reichhold Property
and the Trust land would facilitate the creation of a
lands mitigation plan that could increase the size of
the area available for industrial development on the
waterfront and could positively affect wetland
mitigation on other Tribal property.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Pilot is:
• Reviewing and analyzing the extent of environmental
contamination on the Reichhold Property;
• Coordinating a cleanup and redevelopment plan;
and
• Analyzing and developing a drainage and wetlands
mitigation plan for the Reichhold Property that is
consistent with the plans for the Trust lands.
LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES
Experience with the Puyallup Tribe Pilot has been a
catalyst for related activities including the following.
• Facilitating a consultative process to acquire and
develop the Reichhold Property.
• Involving students from the Tribal College in the
process.
Regional Bmwnfields Assessment Pilot
May 1997
Puyallup Tribe of Tacoma, Washington
EPA 500-F-97-068
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