State and Tribal Response
Program Highlights
EPA Funding Provided to States and Tribes to Address Contaminated Land in their Communities
REGION I
NEW HAMSPHIRE - The New Hampshire Department of
Environmental Services (NHDES) used Section 128(a) Response
Program funding to complete Phase I and Phase II environmental
assessments at the Richelson Building in Plymouth. The current
building was constructed between 1930 and 1937 and was occupied
by a clothing store and ski outfitting shop. In 1992, the building was
renovated to include a furniture store, tanning salon, photocopy
shop, bagel shop, an art studio and an office for Plymouth State
University (PSU). The building has been vacant since 2009. The
assessments were conducted to determine potential petroleum
contamination associated with an underground storage tank. The
assessments revealed that no cleanup was required and allowed
the Grafton County Economic Development Council (Council)
to receive U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) funding to purchase the property. In addition, the Council was
awarded $500,000 in New Hampshire Tax Credits and successfully
applied for a loan from the Northern Border Regional Commission,
a new regional coordination mechanism for the Northern Forest
states as well as a potentially significant new source of investment
for economic and community development in the region. As the
property is located adjacent to PSU, the Council is working with PSU
to renovate the building to house a small business incubator and
business resource center that will be run by PSU staff. Construction
of the new facility is anticipated to begin in November 2012.
Misfs rendering of the redeveloped Richelson Property.
REGION 2
NEW JERSEY - The former Camden Recycling Company property,
located on Mount Ephraim Avenue in Camden, was transformed
to accommodate the expansion of the neighboring DiNaso &
Sons, Inc., a building supply company. This expansion, used for
building material storage, created new jobs in the community and
sparked the revitalization of other sites along Ephraim Avenue. This
approximately 80-acre property was originally developed as a drive-
in theater, and later operated as a scrap metal recycling facility from
1940 to 1995. The site investigation revealed contaminated soils
associated with three former fuel underground storage tanks. The
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection used Section
128(a) Response Program funding to oversee the investigation and
cleanup activities to ensure that the cleanup was complete. Today
this project has become an integral part of the area's revitalization,
while creating 45 jobs for local residents.
REGION 3
VIRGINIA- The cleanup of almost two million railroad ties from a
property in Radford brings to an end to a multi-year effort to clear
a former industrial location and eliminate a potential environmental
concern. Performed by the Norfolk Southern Railway Co., this
removal finalized an arrangement with the Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ) to transport the ties to an approved
disposal facility. The cleanup, which took approximately five months,
made seven acres of industrial property—with rail service and utilities
already in place—ready for revitalization. "Norfolk Southern deserves
a great deal of credit for this project," explained DEQ Director David
K. Paylor. "They willingly removed these old railroad ties at their
own expense, and the result is a new opportunity for productive
use of industrial property in Radford." The ties dated to the 1980s,
when they were sold and stockpiled for reuse on a private property.
The owner eventually declared bankruptcy, leaving the property
abandoned with a potential fire hazard and other environmental
concerns. In 2009, DEQ's Brownfields Program, a Section 128(a)
Response Program grantee, began researching alternatives to
traditional disposal. In early 2011, DEQ and Norfolk Southern signed
an agreement to begin the voluntary removal of the ties via rail to
approved disposal facilities. Most of the material went to a permitted
facility in Pennsylvania that specializes in incineration of treated
wood to create energy.
REGION 4
MISSISSIPPI - The former Gautier Oil site was used by the
railroad and its lessees for creosote wood treating operations
from approximately 1870 to 1979, and for waste oil recovery
from 1980 to 1983. After a period of inactivity for the site, owner
CSX Transportation (CSXT) worked closely with the Mississippi
Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), a Section 128(a)
Response Program grantee, to evaluate environmental impacts
associated with the property and adjacent West Pascagoula River
and Bayou Pierre. These studies revealed environmental impacts
to soil, groundwater, and near shore sediments from the river and
bayou. In January 2011, CSXT hosted an outreach session at the
property to inform the local community of planned cleanup work and
CERCLA Section 128(a) State and Tribal Response Program Fundin
January/February 2012
-------
give area residents an opportunity to voice any concerns. On March
24, 2011, the Mississippi DEQ approved a Brownfields Agreement
with CSXT to remediate the former Gautier Oil Site. To date, CSXT
has spent over $15 million disposing of approximately 16,000 tons
of impacted soil and 7,000 tons of sediment. CSXT also removed,
stored and replanted 25,000 plants and restored approximately three
acres of fringe wetlands. CSXT is planning to partner with the Land
Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain to establish a conservation
easement on the entire property and restore its natural habitat in an
effort to promote wildlife resettlement. In addition to the conservation
easement, CSXT plans to apply for site certification in 2012 through
the Wildlife Habitat Council.
Wetland plantings at the former Gautier Oil site.
REGION 5
RED LAKE BAND OF CHIPPEWA INDIANS - The Tribal Council
of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians passed a Hazardous
Substance Control Act (HSCA) into Tribal Law on February 14, 2012.
The HSCA was developed by the Red Lake Environmental Response
Program (RL ERP) utilizing Section 128(a) Response Program
funding. The Act creates a Voluntary Response Program to clean
up contaminated properties, promotes proper disposal of waste and
encourages recycling and reuse. The Act also includes mandatory
cleanup, bans on open dumping, bans on burning of solid and
hazardous wastes and a requirement to report releases of hazardous
substances. The HSCA gives the RL ERP oversight, enforcement
and rule-making authority to help the staff protect and conserve
the tribe's natural resources. The passing of the HSCA is a very
important milestone for the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, as
Red Lake joins a group of fewer than a dozen tribes nationwide that
have passed such laws in their efforts to protect tribal lands from
contamination. This new tribal law will be an important tool for RL
ERP staff as they strive to protect the land and the health and safety
of the people of Red Lake.
REGION 6
NEW MEXICO - Located on historic Route 66 near the Navajo
Nation and Zuni Pueblo Reservations, Gallup has been the home of
the Lexington Hotel since 1931. The hotel was showing its age when
the nonprofit organization Community Area Resource Enterprise,
Inc. (CARE 66) acquired the property in 2009 to provide supportive
and transitional housing for low-income individuals. Environmental
investigations funded by EPA Region 6 Brownfields Assessment
grants revealed the need for asbestos remediation. The New Mexico
Environment Department (NMED) used Section 128(a) State
Response Program funding to assess alternatives and develop the
remediation plan. CARE 66 then obtained an American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act sub-grant through NMED's Brownfields
Revolving Loan Fund to complete the cleanup. Additional support
for the Lexington's $2.3 million rehabilitation came from the Navajo
Housing Authority, HUD Rural Housing and Economic Development,
the New Mexico Legislature, the U.S. Congress, the Daniels Fund,
and a local Gallup family. The Lexington Hotel renovations were
completed in early 2012. The main floor now features transitional
housing for 25 individuals in dormitory-style units, a commercial
kitchen, dining area, and CARE 66's administrative offices. The
historic lobby and Work Progress Administration era paintings were
preserved and the second floor offers a kitchen, laundry, accessible
bathroom facilities and 20 single rooms as permanent housing for
chronically homeless individuals who suffer from mental illness or
substance abuse. The new Lexington Hotel is helping to achieve
CARE 66's mission "to create opportunities to end homelessness."
The Lexington Hotel after renovations were completed in 2012.
REGION 7
MISSOURI - Long term stewardship (LTS) experts nationwide
have recognized that the best way to avoid accidental exposures to
residual contamination is to ensure that data on land use restrictions
and engineered controls is widely disseminated and provided
to those involved in site activities at the right time. Missouri's
Brownfields/Voluntary Cleanup Program (BVCP), a Section 128(a)
Response Program funding grantee, created a new GIS-based
CERCLA Section 128(a) State and Tribal Response Program Fundin
January/February 2012
-------
online mapping and information system that provides such critical
data about remediated sites. This new system improves the visibility
of ITS information to users such as local land use and building
permitting authorities, developers and environmental professionals. It
also enhances the level of information available to the general public
on both active and closed sites, provides quick access to key site
documents, and is updated daily. The system's map provides direct
links to completion letters for closed sites as well as environmental
covenants and post-closure management plans for ITS sites.
The system is also scalable, allowing additional databases to be
connected. The long term plan is to incorporate all remediated sites
and ITS data into this system.
SOUTH DAKOTA-A historic, former school for the blind was
redeveloped as a mixed-use complex after South Dakota's
Department of Environment and Natural Resources cleaned up
contamination throughout the site. The 34-acre campus, located
in the small village of Gary (population 231), consists of eight
structures dating back to 1900 and was used to house and
educate blind children until 1961. The site's idle buildings had
deteriorated significantly by 2006, when the City of Gary contacted
the state requesting Brownfields assistance. The state performed
environmental site assessments that identified large quantities of
asbestos and lead both in and outside of the structures, buried fuel
oil tanks, waste pits, and cisterns containing debris. Section 128(a)
Response Program funding was used to perform asbestos and lead
paint abatement; additional state funds were used to remove the fuel
tanks and cisterns and address the waste pits. Following cleanup and
building renovation, the Buffalo Ridge Resort and Business Center
opened—featuring a hotel, bunkhouse, ballroom, conference rooms,
fitness center, racquetball court, restaurant, business offices, small
lake, freshwater stream, walking trails, and campground. The facility
is now used by the local community as well as people drawn to Gary
for destination weddings, conferences, and trainings.
REGION
NEVADA-The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection's
(NDEP) used Section 128(a) Response Program funding to help
two school districts in rural Nevada assess and prepare idle former
school facilities for demolition and redevelopment. Both of the
school properties had fallen into disrepair after years of vacancy and
become economic and health and safety liabilities to their school
districts and communities. The first project was a vacant building
located on the main campus of the Lincoln County School District.
The NDEP Brownfields program conducted a Phase I assessment in
late 2010, then provided an additional $56,000 to remove asbestos
containing material (ACM) and lead-based paint in preparation for the
building's demolition. The second project was the Ruth Elementary
School, a single-story masonry building constructed in 1962 on an
eight-acre parcel. The building was used as a school for 23 years
before closing in 1985 and used for storage by the White Pine
County School District. The NDEP Brownfields program conducted a
modified Phase I assessment on the then-vacant building, including
sampling for ACM and lead-based paint. In May 2011, a certified
asbestos abatement contractor was hired by the NDEP Brownfields
program to remove all ACM from the former school and prepare
it for demolition. Both properties are ready for demolition and
redevelopment.
The Lincoln County School District school after asbestos and lead-based paint abatement.
REGION 10
The Buffalo Ridge Resort and Business Center after redevelopment of the former school facility.
NEZ PERCE TRIBE - The Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho used their
Section 128(a) Response Program funding to address an abandoned
above-ground storage tank (AST) recently identified while conducting
a survey and inventory. At the property owners' request, the Nez
Perce Tribal Response Program oversaw an owner-funded Phase
II after developing a strategy based on a Phase I ESA conducted
by the previous owners. The tribe's environmental professional
targeted likely areas of concern, excavated six shallow pits, and
used a photoionization detector to measure volatile organic carbon
concentrations. No contamination was observed other than a slight
sheen of petroleum on the groundwater in one of the pits. Based on
the confirmation sample results, the tribe reached a determination
with the state that no further action was required.
united states CERCLA Section I28(a) State and Tribal Response Program Funding
Environmental Protection
January/February 2012 EPA-560-F-12-016
------- |