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 ------- 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/ ------- |