u
o
Brownfields
Supplemental Assistance
City of Waterloo, IA
BACKGROUND
EPA awarded the City of Waterloo supplemental assistance
for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot. The
City of Waterloo (population 66,467) was once known as
the Factory City of Iowa. Waterloo' s economy has declined
since the collapse of the food production industry in the
1970s and the agricultural economy in the 1980s. Waterloo
now is home to numerous commercial and industrial
properties that are abandoned and perceived to be
contaminated. The Pilot's main area of focus, the Rath
Neighborhood Area, represents the highest density of
seriously deteriorated housing in Waterloo. About 46
percent of its residents are living in poverty and the
unemployment rate is 15 percent. The Pilot area is within
a state-designated Enterprise Zone.
The original Pilot completed Phase I environmental
assessments on the 11-acre Construction Machinery
Company (CMC) site and multiple properties along the
Cedar River in the Rath Neighborhood area. Supplemental
funds will allow the Pilot to continue efforts to characterize
risks associated with the CMC site and to examine
additional properties with perceived contamination. These
properties include alivestock facility, former light castings
foundry, well drilling equipment manufacturing company,
cement tile machinery manufacturing facility, gas engine
and machine manufacturing facility, and numerous other
industrial operations.
OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES
The goal of the Pilot is to improve the quality of life in the
Rath Neighborhood Area. In order to achieve this goal,
supplemental funds will be used to conduct Phase II
environmental assessments on sites that initially were
addressed during original Pilot. Phase I environmental
assessments will be conducted at additional sites to be
determined within the Rath Neighborhood Area.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
City of Waterloo,
Iowa
Date of Announcement:
May 2002
Amount: $150,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
approximately 350-acres
located immediately south ofthe
Central Business District in
Waterloo's Rath Neighborhood
Area.
Contacts:
City of Waterloo
(319)291-4366
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA Region 7
(913)551-7003
Visit the E PA Region 7 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region07/brownfields/
Forfurther information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
www.epa.gov/brownfields
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Proceeding with Phase II environmental assessments
on properties from original Pilot, starting with the former
CMC site;
• Conducting Phase I environmental assessments on
additional properties to broaden the study ofthe target
area; and
-------
• Communicating with community, private, industry, and
state and Federal organizations for continued support and
consent throughout the assessment process.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore,
activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Solid Waste EPA 500-F-02-108
and Emergency May 2002
Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/
------- |