Brownfields Cleanup
Revolving Loan Fund
Pilot Project
Mystic Valley Development
Commission, MA
BACKGROUND
The Mystic Valley Development Commission (MVDC)
represents the cities of Everett, Maiden, and Medford,
Massachusetts. The three communities have a population of
approximately 142,000 and are located in the inner suburban
loop, five miles north of Boston. The three cities have
demonstrated unprecedented cooperation to combine
resources and collaboratively pursue redevelopment
solutions.
The MVDC is focusing brownfields activities on the
TeleCom CityŽ) project. The TeleCom CityŽ project is the
ambitious redevelopment of 207-acres of former industrial
property spanning the communities of Maiden, Medford, and
Everett along the polluted and underused Maiden River into
a center for the state's telecommunications industry. The area
is heavily urbanized and there is no greenspace available for
new industrial development. When complete, TeleCom
CityŽ will be a complex consisting of 1.8 million square feet
of office, research and development, and manufacturing
space as well as a riverfront park and open space for local
residents.
Since its inception, the MVDC has been working steadily
toward its goal of sustainable redevelopment and community
involvement. TeleCom CityŽ will create a state-of-the-art
telecommunications center that will capitalize on the cutting-
edge technologies of the Massachusetts telecommunications
industry to position the state and the three cities for new
regional and international investment.
In 1998, the MVDC was selected as an Assessment
PI LOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Loan:
October 2001
Amount: $225,000
Loan Profile: The MVDC is making a
$225,000 loan to the City of Maiden for
the cleanup of the former Solvent
Chemical Site in Maiden, MA.
Everett, Maiden, and Medford,
Massachusetts
Contacts:
MVDC Site Coordinator
(617)381-7711
EPA Region 1
Project Officer
(617)918-1210
Demonstration Pilot and awarded $200,000 in assessment
funding. MVDC subsequently was awarded an additional
$150,000 in supplemental assessment funding. In May
1999, EPA selected the MVDC as a Brownfields Cleanup
Revolving Loan Fund (BCRLF) pilot. Under this program,
EPA provided the MVDC with $500,000 to capitalize its
revolving loan fund. In October 2000, the MVDC was
awarded National Brownfields Showcase Community
designation and an additional $200,000 in assessment funding
and technical assistance. In October 2001, the MVDC made
its first loan, an intragovemmental loan, within the TeleCom
CityŽ project and subsequently received an award of
$500,000 in supplemental funding for its BCRLF from EPA.
This award brings EPA's Brownfields funding commitment to
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA-500-F-02-024
June 2002
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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MVDC to a total of $1.6 million.
STRUCTURE OF THE BCRLF PROGRAM
The MVDC serves as the lead agency for the BCRLF
program and is responsible for ensuring that environmental
cleanups conducted with funding from the BCRLF are done
in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations and
thatthe BCRLF funds are used for authorizedpurposes. The
Maiden Redevelopment Authority (MRA), as Project
Manager of the TeleCom CityŽ project, has been designated
by the MVDC to be the Brownfields Site Manager and the
Fund Manager of the MVDC's BCRLF.
TERMS OF THE LOAN
On October 16, 2001, the MVDC made a $225,000
intragovemmental loan from the its Brownfields Cleanup
Revolving Loan Fund. The proceeds of the loan are to be
used to finance a non-time critical removal action at the
former Solvent Chemical Site located on Lower Commercial
Street in Maiden. The cleanup of this site is critical to the
redevelopment of the 207-acre TeleCom CityŽ) project since
it will facilitate the reconstruction of Commercial Street as the
"Gate Way" to the project. In addition, the cleanup will
eliminate the potential public health threats associated with
the current contamination.
The loan is an intra-governmental loan, the reimbursable
transfer of BCRLF loan funds within the same government,
and is eligible for a loan discount of 20% of the loan amount.
The discounted principal is $180,000. The interest rate for
the loan will be 5%. A repayment schedule of the discounted
principal and accrued interest was established based on 10
annual payments starting October 2003. The source of
repayment was established as the net proceeds of a lease to
be negotiated between MRA and the City of Maiden for the
Public Works Way property. The lease payments and
underling property were pledged to the MVDC and, in turn,
were the collateralfor the loan. The final maturity of the loan
will not exceed 10 years from October 2002.
BCRLF CLEANUP SITE
The site is located within the MVDC's TeleCom CityŽ
project boundaries. The project site is identified as an
approximately 138,000 square foot area of land located
along Commercial Street in the City of Maiden. The
environmental contamination at the site consists of a pool of
dichlorobenzene that sits approximately 30 feet underground,
with the highest concentration of contaminants under
Commercial Street between a produce market and the
Maiden Department of Public Works (DPW) facility.
Contamination on the site is believed to be from the former
Solvent Chemical Company that operated at the site and
manufactured dichlorobenzene, among other chemicals. The
dichlorobenzene is leaching into the groundwater and
contaminating the Maiden River. MVDC intends to install a
treatment system to extract the pool of chemicals to eliminate
this source of contamination to the groundwater and the river.
The treatment system will consist of a stand-alone low-flow
groundwater treatment unit and DNAPL recovery well
system. The BCRLF loan funds will pay for the construction
and operation and maintenance of the treatment system for 1
year. MVDC will pay for additional operation and
maintenance beyond 1 year, if needed.
PROPOSED SITE REUSE PLAN
The former Solvent Chemical site is currently occupied by a
roadway, a produce market, a DPW facility and other local
businesses. The local businesses and DPW yard will remain
during and following the removal action. The cleanup of this
site is critical to the redevelopment of the 207-acre TeleCom
CityŽ project since it will facilitate the reconstruction of
Commercial Street as the "Gate Way" to the project.
CONTACTS
MVDC Site Coordinator
(617)381-7711
EPA Region I Project Officer
(617)918-1210
For additional information, contact the
RCRA/Superfund/EPCRA Hotline at: (800) 424-9346 or
visit the EPA Brownfields website at:
http: //www. epa. go v/bro wnfields.
Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with
CERCLA, and all CERCLA restrictions on use of
funding also apply to BCRLF funds.
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA-500-F-02-024
June 2002
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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