Brownfields 1999 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
City of Minneapolis, Minnesota
EPA Brownfields Initiative
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. On
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into
law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields 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.
Background
EPA awarded the City of Minneapolis supplemental
assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration
Pilot and additional funding for assessments at
brownfields properties to be used for greenspace
purposes. The project area (population 49,100) is in the
federally designated Minneapolis Empowerment Zone
(EZ). Once a major commercial and service center for
Minneapolis and the surrounding northern communities,
the project area now includes half of the state's hazardous
waste generators and 88 percent of its tax-forfeited
properties. Sixty percent of the EZ residents are
minorities and 60 percent of the area children live in
poverty.
The original Pilot targeted five orphaned sites in the EZ,
which were given low priority due to size, location, and
level of perceived pollution. The assessment process has
been completed at three sites (Snelling, Bloomington,
and Garfield) and redevelopment plans are being carried
out. Two sites (East 26th Street and Lowry Avenue),
where contamination was found to be more extensive
than anticipated, need additional testing. Two of the
original Pilot sites will be redeveloped into affordable
housing: one is to become a mixed-use development
with a housing component, and another has been
designated to be a community garden until a suitable
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 05/01/2002
Amount: $150,000
$50,000 for Greenspace
Profile: The Pilot targets five brownfields sites
within the Minneapolis Empowerment Zone for
assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment and an
additional two sites for potential reuse as
neighborhood parks.
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 5 Brownfields Team
(312)886-7576
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields)
Grant Recipient: City of Minneapolis,MN
(612)673-5193
Objectives
The city's goal is to strengthen Minneapolis' economic
stability and revitalize its most impoverished
neighborhoods. The supplemental assistance will be
used to complete testing and redevelopment planning
for the East 26th Street and Lowry Avenue sites,
conduct testing on three new vacant sites strongly
suspected of being contaminated within the EZ, expand
community involvement activities, and create a
brownfields website to share information with the
community.
The greenspace funding will be used to investigate two
sites within the Minneapolis EZ. The 29th Avenue
South site will be transformed into a neighborhood park
connecting the Longfellow neighborhood to the new
Midtown Greenway, which spans the width of the city
along a historic railroad line. The Central Avenue NE
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-02-095
May 02
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development proposal is accepted.
site will be transformed into a unique pocket park
featuring local sculptures.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Completing additional testing at the East 26th
Street and Lowry Avenue sites;
• Conducting Phase I and II site assessments,
redevelopment and remedial action planning for
the three newly identified properties;
• Conducting environmental site assessments at
two city-owned sites (29th Avenue South and
Central Avenue NE) for greenspace reuse;
• Continuing building on previous brownfields
pilot community involvement efforts; and
• Creating a brownfields website.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet
been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this
fact sheet are subject to change.
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)
EPA 500-F-02-095
May 02
-------
Brownfields 1999 Supplemental Assessment
Pilot Fact Sheet
Minneapolis, MN
EPA Brownfields Initiative
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. On
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into
law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields 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.
Background
EPA has selected the City of Minneapolis for a
Brownfields Pilot. The project area is the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD)-designated Minneapolis Empowerment Zone
(EZ), population 49,096, which includes 50 percent of
the state's hazardous waste generators and 88 percent of
its tax-forfeit properties. Also within the EZ, 60 percent
of the residents are minority and 60 percent of the
children are living in poverty.
Minneapolis and the state have been successful in
cleaning up larger contaminated sites, obtaining over $ 11
million in state and city funding toward revitalization.
However, smaller brownfields within the EZ have not yet
been addressed, causing economic distress and blight
within the EZ neighborhoods. Nine brownfields sites, in
a key commercial corridor and part of the EZ, have been
identified for preliminary assessment. Each EZ area has a
community organization experienced in dealing with
environmental issues able to assist with community
outreach efforts.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 06/21/1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets tax-forfeit, orphan
brownfields within the Minneapolis EZ for
assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment.
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 5 Brownfields Team
(312)886-7576
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields)
Grant Recipient: City of Minneapolis,MN
(612)673-5193
Objectives
The Pilot will focus on the brownfields sites within the
EZ for assessment and eventual redevelopment. The
Pilot's goal is to assess and develop Remedial Action
Plans (RAP) for three priority sites. The EZ
Implementation Plan uses the Minneapolis
Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP)
framework for community involvement. By using the
NRP, the Pilot will expand the communities'
involvement in Pilot site selection, assessment
activities, and the redevelopment process, which will
include community workshops and charettes.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Identifying which of nine sites require Phase I
assessments;
• Conducting Phase I assessments on target sites;
• Identifying redevelopment planning goals based
on Phase I assessment results through community
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA500-F-99-139
Jun99
-------
workshops and charettes;
i Completing Phase II assessments on target sites;
and
• Completing a RAP for three target sites.
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 Q ., . ,A/__t,.
E-ironmental andEmXency EPA 5°°
Protection Agency ResDonse(51oVn Jun"
Washington, DC 20450 Kesponse (bl Ob I)
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