United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-99-023
March 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
PA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Wichita, KS
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. Since 1995, EPA has funded more than 200 Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of
brownfields solutions. 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 has selected the City of Wichita for a Brownfields
Pilot. The population of the City of Wichita and
surrounding Sedgwick County is the largest in Kansas
(438,076). This area, the most industrially developed
in the state, is home to aircraft manufacturing,
agribusiness, and petroleum and chemical production
operations. This formerly significant economic and
residential center is littered with abandoned and
unused properties that suffer from the negative effects
of perceived contamination.
The Pilot targets an approximately nine-square-mile
industrial corridor that runs through the City of
Wichita along a major railroad line. Forty-two
percent of the area's residents are minority, and 62
percent live in poverty.
OBJECTIVES
The county plans to establish the Wichita
Environmental/Economic RedevelopmentProject to
promote private sector cleanup and redevelopment
of brownfields by encouraging environmental
assessmentand cleanup planning forproperty owners
in the target area. To support these objectives, the
Pilot will develop a Brownfields Revolving Loan
Fund (BRLF) for assessments, conduct community
outreach, and leverage existing resources aimed at
addressing specific environmental problems. The
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Wichita, Kansas
Date of Announcement:
March 1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets an
approximately nine-square-mile
industrial corridor that runs
through the City of Wichita
along a major railroad line.
Contacts:
Department of Community
Health
Wichita-Sedgwick County
(316)268-8351
Regional Brown fields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 7
(913)551-7786
Visit the EPA Region 7 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region07/specinit/brown/brownfields.htm
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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BRLF will provide low-interest rate, flexible
financing for environmental assessment and cleanup
planning within the targeted area.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Establishing a Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund;
• Funding environmental assessments and cleanup
planning within the targeted area;
• Conducting community outreach and educational
programs regarding the loan program; and
• Facilitating the use of environmental technical
support in the targeted area from established local,
state, and federal programs and agencies.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Wichita, Kansas
March 1999 EPA 500-F-99-023
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