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 ------- 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 ------- |