Brownfields 2011 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
Cheyenne, WY
EPA Brownfields Program
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states.
communities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In
2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help
states and communities around the country cleanup and
revitalize brownfields sites. Under this law, EPA
provides financial assistance to eligible applicants
through four competitive grant programs: assessment
grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and
job training grants. Additionally, funding support is
provided to state and tribal response programs through
a separate mechanism.
Community Description
The City of Cheyenne was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment coalition grant. The city's
coalition partners are the Downtown Development
Authority and Laramie County (combined coalition
population 88,854). Located in southeastern Wyoming,
Cheyenne (population 57,478) was founded by the
Union Pacific Railroad, which bisected the community
and served as the lifeline to the west. The railroad
remains the centerpiece of downtown. The city
experienced $63 million in property damage during a
1985 storm, and much of the damage occurred in the
Lower Capital Drainage Basin in the downtown area.
The city is focusing on this downtown core, which
contains many abandoned and underused properties.
Inadequate stormwater management and potential
contamination have hindered redevelopment of the
downtown area. Cheyenne has lower per capita and
median household incomes than the rest of Laramie
County. The city's unemployment rate is higher than
the national rate. Brownfield assessments are expected
to identify properties critical for flood mitigation and
redevelopment efforts.
Assessment Grant
$800,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Cheyenne for a
brownfields assessment coalition grant.
Community-wide hazardous substances grant funds
will be used to conduct 40 Phase I environmental site
assessments. Petroleum grant funds will be used to
conduct 20 Phase I environmental site assessments.
Hazardous substances and petroleum grant funds
also will be used to conduct 22 Phase II
environmental site assessments, a site inventory,
cleanup planning, and community outreach
activities. The focus of assessments will be the
Lower Capital Drainage Basin in the city's
downtown area.
Contacts
For further information, including specific grant
contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
news and events, and publications and links, visit
the EPA Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).
EPA Region 8 Brownfields Team
(303)312-7074
EPA Region 8 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region8/brownfields)
Grant Recipient: City of Cheyenne,WY
307-637-6271
The information presented in this fact sheet comes
from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
accuracy of this information. The cooperative
agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated.
Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are
subject to change.
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA560-F-128-113
May 11
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