United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-98-267
November 1998
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA
Brownfields Showcase
Community
St. Paul, MN
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
Brownfields are abandoned, idled or underused industrial and commercial properties where expansion or redevelopment is
complicated by real or perceived contamination. In May 1997, Vice President Gore announced a Brownfields National Partnership
to bring together the resources of more than 15 federal agencies to address local cleanup and reuse issues in a more
coordinated manner. This multi-agency partnership has pledged support to 16 "Brownfields Showcase Communities"—models
demonstrating the benefits of collaborative activity on brownfields. The designated Brownfields Showcase Communities are
distributed across the country and vary by size, resources, and community type. A wide range of support will be leveraged,
depending on the particular needs of each Showcase Community.
BACKGROUND
The Brownfields National Partnership has selected
the City of St. Paul as a Brownfields Showcase Com-
munity. St. Paul has been a leader in brownfields
redevelopment since 1980, when the Port Authority
transformed a 200-acre brownfields site into Energy
Park, creating over 5,000 jobs. The city has identi-
fied 17 brownfields parcels, covering more than 1,000
acres. It is estimated that, if redeveloped, the 1,000
acres could provide 13 million square feet of building
space, 13,000 new jobs, and $25 million in new prop-
erty tax revenues. St.
Paul's brownfields are
scattered throughout
the city, but are concen-
trated in the federal and
state Enterprise Com-
munities (ECs). St.
Paul has encouraged
job creation and oppor-
tunity for local residents
as an integral part of
brownfields redevelop-
ment by requiring business residents for 60% of their
new positions and pay a minimum wage of $8 per
hour.
In 1988, Minnesota passed the first brownfields leg-
islation in the nation. Four years later, the state en-
acted the Minnesota Land Recycling Act, granting
liability protection for voluntary parties who cleaned
up sites to appropriate levels. Under the jurisdiction
of the Land Recycling Act, St. Paul has worked
closely with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's
Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup program to is-
sue "Certificates of Completion" and remove the
threat of liability from potential investors/developers.
CURRENT ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Community Profile
St. Paul, Minnesota
St. Paul has brought to-
gether a number of fo-
cus groups and forums
to advance brownfields
redevelopment. The
Polluted Lands Task
Force educates busi-
ness owners on
brownfields and busi-
ness opportunities. The
Lenders Roundtable on
Brownfields meets monthly to involve banks and other
financial institutions in brownfields cleanup and redevel-
opment. Community development corporations, district
The St. Paul Port Authority utilizes
a proven development process to
transformthe city's brownfields into
newbuildingsandguaranteedjobs.
Based on earlier successes, St.
Paul expects that redevelopment of
the city's 1,000 acres of brownfields
will create as many as 13,000 new
jobs and $25 million in annual
property tax revenues.
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planning councils, and the city come together regularly
in a community visioning process to plan for cleanup
and redevelopment of brownfields properties. Local
grassroots organizations are working with the Port
Authority to advocate better job training for East
Side residents, bringing together social justice and
economic development. Highlights of St. Paul's
brownfields redevelopment program include:
• Redeveloping more than 100 acres of brownfields
properties into business parks;
• Creating a 10-acre green corridor of open space
along the Mississippi River and the 30-acre Crosby
Lake Business Park from the redevelopment of a
former tank farm. When completed, the business
park will create 505 new jobs;
• Linking the Crosby Lake Business Park to St.
Paul's East Side with additional bus lines; providing
access to new jobs for a neighborhood with 17%
unemployment,
• Securing financing for the 30-acre Williams Hill
Business Park as the anchor for the Phalen Corridor
Initiative. When complete, the business park will
be home to at least 325 jobs and produce more than
$500,000 in property taxes; and
• Collaborating with local community organizations
to select six sites for environmental site assessments
under the Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA) Brownfields Assessment Demonstration
Pilot.
St. Paul has been designated as an EPA Brownfields
Assessment Demonstration Pilot, a Department of
Housing and Urban Development EC, and a State
of Minnesota EC. Partnerships in brownfields as-
sessment, cleanup, and redevelopment have also been
formed with the Department of Commerce's Eco-
nomic Development Administration; the Minnesota
Departments of Trade and Economic Development,
Transportation, and Commerce; and the Metropoli-
tan Council (the local regional governing body).
SHOWCASE COMMUNITY OBJECTIVES AND
PLANNED ACTIVITIES
As a Brownfields Showcase Community, St. Paul
will continue to be a model to cities struggling to
establish the process and identify funding for
brownfields assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment.
The Phalen Corridor Initiative epitomizes St. Paul's
commitment to the integration of brownfields rede-
velopment and community empowerment. The ob-
jective of the Phalen Corridor Initiative is to realize a
community vision in the redevelopment of St. Paul's
East Side. Phalen Boulevard will be built along aban-
doned rail lines, unlocking 100 acres of inaccessible
brownfields to redevelopment and creating more than
1,000 needed jobs for St. Paul's East Side. The
Phalen Corridor Initiative is currently in the commu-
nity workshop stage, providing various stakeholders
with the opportunity to be involved in the brownfields
redevelopment process.
Contacts
St. Paul Port Authority
City of St. Paul
(612)224-5686
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 5
(312)886-5284
For more information on the Brownfields Showcase Communities,
visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/showcase.htm
Brownfields Showcase Community
November 1998
St. Paul, Minnesota
EPA 500-F-98-267
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