Brownfields Cleanup
Revolving Loan Fund
Pilot Project
Kansas City, MO
BACKGROUND
Kansas City, Missouri was awarded a Brownfields
Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (BCRLF) grant in
September 2000. Underthis program, EPA has provided
$500,000 to capitalize its revolving loan fund. Using
the BCRLF pilot funds, the City will provide loans to
eligible entities for the purpose of cleaning up
brownfields sites in the entire Kansas City Metropolitan
area which covers 311 square miles.
Kansas City was a national center of rail, livestock, and
manufacturing industries from the 1880's through the
early part of the 1950's. The city was once home to
manufacturing giants and a number of heavy industries.
In recent times, economic and technological changes,
plant closings, urban flight and several devastating
floods have caused significant job losses. The City's
Enhanced Enterprise Community (EEC), with a poverty
rate of 39 percent and unemployment reaching 17
percent, will be the focus of many of the BCRLF loans.
As a coalition with the Unified Government of
Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, the City
was designated a Brownfields Assessment Pilot and a
Federal Showcase Community. Many of the sites that
are assessed under the Assessment Pilot are potential
applicants under the BCRLF Pilot.
STRUCTURE OF THE BCRLF PROGRAM
Kansas City Missouri's Department of Housing and
Community Development serves as lead agency and the
City's Department of Environmental Management
serves as site manager. The fund manager is the EDC
Loan Corporation, a private, non-profit entity that is
legally separate from, but a component of the City.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Kansas City, MO
Date of Loan:
October 2001
Amount: $360,000
Loan Profile: The Port Authority
of Kansas City is borrowing
$360,000 for the cleanup and
development of Riverfront Park.
Contacts:
Kansas City Site Coordinator
(816)513-3002
EPA Region 7 Project Officer
(913)551-7128
Visit the EPA Region 7 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region07/brownfields/
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:
www.epa.gov/brownfields
BCRLF BORROWER
The Port Authority of Kansas City, Missouri is the
borrower for this project. The Port Authority is a
political subdivision of the State of Missouri that was
created to develop and manage the waterfront of Kansas
City, including the Port of Kansas City, Riverfront Park
development, and all riverboat gaming operations in
Kansas City. After competitively bidding the removal
project and assessing all of its resources, the Port
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Authority identified a funding gap of up to $360,000.
This Financial Gap is the basis for the BCRLF loan.
The loan, which was approved in October 2001, is to be
repaid over the next four years with an annual interest
rate of 3%. Repayment is based upon contractual grant
revenues from Casino operations anticipated by the Port
authority.
BCRLF CLEANUP SITE
The Riverfront Park Redevelopment Site, is an
approximately 5 5-acre parcel located on the south bank
of the Missouri river about a quarter-mile from
downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The site was
acquired by Kansas City, MO in 1952. It is currently
leased by the Port Authority. Over the last 50 years,
this parcel has been used as a construction and
demolition debris landfill and a municipal tow impound
lot. The site has an estimated 250,000 cubic yards of
construction and demolition debris consisting of
concrete, steel, asbestos containing material (ACM),
and miscellaneous debris.
CONTACTS
Kansas City Site Coordinator
(816)513-3002
EPA Region 7 Project Officer
(913)551-7128
For additional information, contact the
RCRA/Superfund Hotline at: (800) 424-9346 or visit
the EPA Brownfields website at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields.
Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with
CERCLA, and all CERCLA restrictions on use of
funding also apply to BCRLF funds.
A pilottest excavation and environmental assessment of
the site was completed by Tetra Tech EM, Inc., in
August 2000. It was found that although the ACM
accounted for only 1 % of the total debris volume, it was
dispersed throughout the piles and could be released to
the environment and pose a human health risk if not
removed prior to redevelopment of the site.
The removal action consisted of sorting the debris to:
remove and dispose of the friable ACM; separate the
metals for recycling; and crush the concrete debris for
use as fill at the site. The cleanup is scheduled to be
completed in late 2001.
PROPOSED SITE REUSE PLAN
The site is part of a prime stretch of unused urban
riverfront property. It is the top redevelopment priority
for the City and the Port Authority and is projected to
yield up to $300 million in mixed-use development and
thousands of new jobs. Planned infrastructure
construction could allow for up to two million square
feet of development.
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-02-027
June 2002
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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