Brownfields
Success Story
EPA Grant Recipient:
City of Waterloo
Grant Types:
EPA Brownfields Assessment Pilot
Grant; EPA Cleanup Revolving
Loan Fund; CERCLA 128(a)
State Response Program; EPA
Assessment and Cleanup Grants;
EPA Hazardous Substances
Cleanup Grant
Former Uses:
Meat-packing plant, various
manufacturing plants, bulk oil
storage facility, automotive service
and repair shops, hotel
Current Uses:
Human services campus, public
works building, sports and
recreation facility, mixed-use
commercial and residential property
The New Waterloo:
From Brownfields to
Revitalized Downtown
Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo is a diverse community of more than 68,000 located along
the banks of the Cedar River in northeastern Iowa. The former "Factory
City of Iowa" was home to employers such as John Deere and the
Rath Packing Company, which provided thousands of stable, weli	
paying jobs to the region for much of the 20th century. But a deep
agricultural recession in the 1980s led to job losses and company
closures that shook the community. Numerous abandoned properties,
some with perceived contamination, were scattered throughout
the downtown and adjoining areas. Conflicting land uses, the poor
structural condition of the buildings and environmental uncertainties
impeded reinvestment in these properties. Low-income and minority
populations Were particularly affected, as neighborhoods downtown
fell into a state of perpetual decline.
Waterloo is one of the most ethnically diverse communities
in Iowa. The percentage of residents identifying as a minority
(24.5%) is more than double the state figure (11.4%). Urban
core areas targeted for environmental assessment activities
have even higher numbers of minorities, as well as individuals
living below the poverty level.

Urban
Core of
Waterloo
City of
Waterloo
State of
Iowa
U
S

Population*
1,801
68,406
3,046,857
308,745,538
Individuals
below
poverty
level
65.9%
18.4%
12.2%
14.9%
Minority
48.6%
24.5%
11.4%
36.3%
Black or
African
American
38.5%
15.2%
2.9%
12.6%
*Census tract population information is from the 2008-2012 ACS 5-Year Estimate,
while city, state and U.S. population information was obtained from 2010 U.S. Census.
SERA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Waterloo is redeveloping contaminated
properties into attractive riverfront
residences like the Grand Crossing
condominiums, shown here, to help

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The Rath Packing Company plant (top)
sat vacant and decaying for years before
city officials began redevelopment
efforts. Today, the space is home
to several social services providers,
including Operation Threshold,
Waterloo officials recognized the dire need for a plan to revive the
area. "For a long time, people didn't want to live here," says Noel
Anderson, the city's director of community planning and development.
"We're changing that."
To enhance the livability of downtown Waterloo and attract reinvestment,
city officials launched a renewal initiative in 2000 using a $200,000
Brownfields Assessment Pilot Grant from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to evaiuate the contamination at potential
redevelopment sites. Since then. EPA has funded $2.25 million in
assessment grants, which have helped draw an additional $49 million
in federal, state and local funds for properties at 19 redevelopment
projects. EPA assistance through its Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) 128(a) State
Response Program for targeted brownfield assessments and state
brownfields tax credits, as well as the private investment of developers
and new owners, all played a role in redevelopment, which is helping
revitalize the city's central business district and economy.
The Projects
When the Rath Packing Company closed in 1985, it left more than 2
million square feet of vacant industrial space, ushering in a period of
severe disinvestment in the area. Using EPA Assessment Grants and
other federal, state and local funding, the city helped transform the
area into a human services campus. The property now houses several
social services providers, including the Northeast Iowa Food Bank,
the Waterloo Women's Center for Change, and Operation Threshold,
a local community action agency that helps residents meet their
basic needs and become self-sufficient.
The city has also redeveloped the former Construction Machinery
Company site, an 11-acre parcel that once contained 20 buildings,
including a foundry. The city acquired the property after a Phase I
Environmental Assessment cleared the way for reinvestment, and
state and federal grants funded demolishing many of the buildings.
An EPA site-specific assessment grant funded additional, in-depth
environmental assessments that revealed a buried railcar packed with
industrial solvents, underground storage tanks, soil contamination
and hazardous debris from burned buildings, A $200,000 EPA
Hazardous Substances Cleanup Grant was used to address the
contamination, including encasing a long trench where factory
solvents, paint and equipment had been dumped and burned.
The EPA Cleanup Grant was a catalyst for other investment. The city
leveraged millions of dollars more from other EPA grants and other
funding sources, including:
•	$350,000 EPA Assessment Grant
•	$350,000 EPA Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund
•	$65,000 Army Corps of Engineers Planning Assistance to States
An EPA Hazardous Substances Cleanup
Grant helped address contamination
at the former Construction Machinery
Company site, where buildings were
neglected after the company closed in
the 1990s.
A new public works building opened
where the Construction Machinery

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•	$400,000 Iowa Department of Economic Development Iowa
Brownfields Fund
•	$7.4 million to build a new public works building, of which $5 million
came from a state I-JOBS Flood Mitigation Program Grant, $1 million
came from the Black Flawk County Gaming Association and
$1.4 miiiion came from the City of Waterloo
Today, the 130,000-square-foot public works building houses 150
vehicles from the city's motor pool in a large indoor garage. Various
departments that had been scattered around the city are in the new
building, including the street department, traffic operations, meter
repair crews, engineering technicians and building maintenance
crews. Future plans include adding new fuel pumps, a recycling drop-
off site and salt mix storage buildings.
The renewal initiative also has fostered an emerging sports and
entertainment district downtown. The city used EPA Assessment
Grants to clear two blocks of declining properties for development
of a sports facility. A bulk oil storage facility, automotive service and
repair shops, and several leaking underground storage tanks in the
area raised environmental concerns. Moreover, severe flooding had left
many of the commercial properties damaged, underutilized or vacant.
Construction on the $27.5 million Cedar Valley SportsPlex created 200
temporary jobs. Today, the center employs 3 full-time staff and 75
part-time staff.
The Challenges
Concerns about: contamination and liability are among the most
significant barriers to brownfields redevelopment. Under CERCLA,
commonly known as the Superfund program, liability for cleanup of a
contaminated site rests with past owners and operators who may have
caused the contamination and current owners, regardless of whether
they took any actions that led to the site being contaminated.
In Waterloo, city planners encourage property owners to answer
questions about liability and contamination through environmental
assessments. "I tell property owners that if they ever intend to sell their
property, potential buyers will insist on an environmental assessment,"
says Chris Western, a planner and brownfields coordinator for the
city. "Owners should take advantage of the city's grant-funded
assessments, various loan programs and technical assistance to help
assess and clean up brownfields and ready them for development."
One Waterloo property slated for redevelopment is the former
Chamberlain Manufacturing Corp. property. Environmental
assessments funded by EPA revealed contaminated groundwater and
soil, extensive asbestos, a petroleum plume, buried storage tanks and
five buried railcars that Were used to dispose of various materials.
Auto&lruikSemce
The city cleared two blocks of declining
properties, including this automotive
service and repair shop (top), to make
room for the Cedar Valley SportsPlex.
it Our goal is to
make Waterloo
the place to live,
work, play and
raise a family.
Noel Anderson,
Waterloo Community
Planning & Development

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Crumbling buildings like this one on the
former Chamberlain Manufacturing Corp.
property sat vacant until the city bought
the site and sought federal and state
funding to clean it up.
Using brownfield funds from the Iowa Department of Economic
Development, plus its own funds, the city demolished all 24 buildings
on the property. "It was one baffling discovery after another: railcars,
storage tanks, a boiler wrapped in asbestos. We discovered a
10,000-square-foot room hidden inside one building," says Western.
Redevelopment will not start until the city and former property owners
fulfill a state-approved cleanup plan. But when cleanup is finished,
city officials hope to entice residential development in the area. "It
may take a while to get there, but it will be worth it," says Anderson.
"We've learned to be patient during these projects. We look at all the
successes we've had over the last 15 years, and we're just going to
push through."
Fortunately, the variety of challenges faced at the Chamberlain
property are uncommon. Environmental cleanup is not always
necessary to put a property back into productive reuse. In Waterloo,
only a few properties have required cleanup following environmental
assessments. Many properties were available for redevelopment and
reuse right away.
The Benefits
Revitalizing Waterloo's older industrial and commercial neighborhoods
has brought businesses, jobs, an improved tax base and new life to the
downtown area. Cleaning up the former Construction Machinery site
has cleared the way for reinvestment and removed a significant health
and safety concern for residents who have been disproportionately
impacted by brownfields. "Putting the public works building there
has increased the presence of public employees in a troubled
neighborhood, which is good for redevelopment," says Anderson.
The city also invested $6 million to eliminate blighted housing along
the waterfront and make way for new residential infill. Dilapidated
housing will be transformed into new single-family homes, sparked
by Iowa brownfields funds. "We used $400,000 in state brownfields
grants to get started, and the private investment has followed," says
Western. "Developers gain more confidence When we build new
houses in these older neighborhoods."
Redevelopment projects are benefitting the local economy as well.
The general contractors working on renewal projects are from local
companies. Plus, the city has earned about $100 million per year in
permit revenue related to development projects. These projects have
also yielded increased annual tax revenues. For example, revenues
from the local option sales tax have climbed consistently since
redevelopment projects have been in progress.
But the most important benefit has been the increase in activity
downtown. "None of this would mean much if it didn't attract people
here," Anderson says. "That's always been the goal, and we're well on
our way"
After all 24 buildings on the former
Chamberlain Manufacturing Corp. property
were demolished and removed, the site
awaits redevelopment, which will begin
after the city and former property owners
conduct soil and groundwater assessments
and develop a remediation plan.
EPA .5G6-F-16-161

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