Revitalizing Southeastern Communities A Brownfields Toolkit Denver, CO is Using Open Space to Fight Crime With help from federal, state, and community partners, the City and County of Denver, Colorado, transformed an abandoned, blighted, crime-ridden, sewage treatment plant into a multi-use development complete with open space, recreational areas, and an urban wildlife area. The Northside Wastewater Treatment Plant, located in a disadvantaged area along the Platte River in Denver, was abandoned in 1984. By the mid-1990s, the site came to be known as "Pirate Island," a hotbed for vandalism, crime, and mischief. Windows were shot out, automobiles were pushed into the river, anything of value in the plant was stolen (including aluminum stairs and the front entrance to the administration building), and the facility was used as a staging area for efforts to burglarize the site's industrial neighbors. The City targeted the plant for redevelopment as part of a citywide effort to develop a series of parks and recreation areas along the South Platte. The City utilized brownfields pilot funds for an assessment and Department of Commerce funding to demolish the remaining structures on the site. Several community meetings were held to help identify neighborhood needs and develop a vision for the site. Half of the site's 100 acres were set aside as an urban wildlife area, including Heron Pond which is currently under construction. Another 13 acres were devoted to a recreation park with wetlands, athletic fields, and a walking trail connecting the park to the wildlife preserve. The park design incorporates many of the plant's old structures, recognizing the site's heritage, while also reducing demolition costs. The remaining components are being used for an armory for the Colorado National Guard and an industrial park. Spurred in part by the redevelopment of this site, the surrounding community is undergoing an economic resurgence. The construction of new commercial enterprises at three nearby properties are demonstrative of the new wave of development that the cleanup of the site has triggered. While centered in a predominantly industrial area, surrounding neighborhoods have easy access to the site via a network of bike trails. This community has not witnessed this level of redevelopment in many years. Contact: Ned Burke Housing and Neighborhood Development 720-913-1555 ned.burke@ci.denver.co.us ------- Revitalizing Southeastern Communities A Brownfields Toolkit Railyard Reclaimed to Complete Trail System in St. Paul, MN Just east of downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, the Mississippi River turns past the lower town and downtown areas, snakes its way past the Dayton's Bluff and Railroad Island neighborhoods and turns below the face of Dayton's Bluff. In this downtown area of the valley, where Phalen Creek once joined the Mississippi, an abandoned rail yard once sat, surrounded by both urban bustle and quiet riverfront parks. Residents of the St. Paul area are fortunate to have a rich variety of trails that weave throughout the outskirts of downtown. Yet the trails had never connected, because they were blocked by this rail yard and a tangle of highways. Minnesotans own more bikes per capita than residents of most other states and they are increasingly forgoing their cars to bike to work and play. But the rail yard stopped cyclists in their tracks, with no way to continue into the downtown area, or on to other trails. A community effort, called the Lower Phalen Creek Project, is working to reclaim the abandoned rail yard, and transform it into the new 27 acre Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary at Lower Phalen Creek. On May 21, 2005, hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the opening of the new Sanctuary. The Sanctuary, and the planned trail extensions, are the culmination of more than six years of planning, research, and fundraising, as well as the innovation of an inspiring public private partnership. Twenty-five environmental organizations, government units and neighborhood groups have devoted endless time and energy to the success of the project. Support from private foundations for the Lower Phalen Creek Project has been key to the advancement of the sanctuary's revitalization. Without this support for the ongoing project management to oversee such key aspects as fundraising, the clean up and implementation of the restoration plan would not have been possible. The process to reuse the rail yard began in 1998 with a Phase I Environmental Assessment. This report identified likely pollution sources stemming from the historical usage of this area, which included primarily industrial and railroad activities. In 2000 and 2001, Phase II investigations were conducted, further specifying the types and quantities of pollution on site. The property was entered in the State's Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup (VIC) program and the Voluntary Petroleum Investigation and Cleanup (VPIC) program. VIC and VPIC required on site testing. Chemicals found during this soil testing include: lead, mercury, arsenic, chromium, PAHs, and diesel ------- range organics. Site cleanup and testing to confirm adequate removal of contaminated soils began in 2003. The entire Lower Phalen Creek Project is moving forward in phases, the first of which is to extend the Bruce Vento Regional Trail. The 1.8 mile extension will continue the trail out of Swede Hollow Park, connect to the Mounds Park/Great River Road Trail, and feed into the Lowertown/Downtown district. The trail will wrap around the new sanctuary, passing a number of historic and natural areas. The second phase of the project involves creating a trail that will go through the Sanctuary itself, as well as building a pedestrian and bicycle bridge to connect the sanctuary to the Mississippi River and its associated trail system. In August 2005, the Lower Phalen Creek Project and Minnesota Representative Betty McCollum announced $1.2 million in federal dollars from the federal transportation reauthorization bill. Remnants of the land's industrial use, including a historic railroad bridge and stone building foundations, can be found around the sanctuary and along the route of the bicycle trail connection. "The transformation of this land from an abandoned industrial area into a beautiful, clean park will add enormous beauty and vitality to our city," said Weiming Lu, a member of the Lower Phalen Creek Project steering committee and President of the Lowertown Redevelopment Corporation. "The history and natural charm of the area will be enjoyed by families and children from St. Paul and beyond." Residents around the St. Paul area are fortunate to have the Lower Phalen Creek Project en route, which will transform the neglected rail yard that was once the center of downtown. Instead of empty space, the neighborhood is rewarded with green open space and a remarkably innovative watershed improvement project. The efforts and accomplishments of the project are a testament to what can be achieved with dedicated partnerships and an open mind. In August 2005, the Lower Phalen Creek Project was awarded the "Take Pride in America" award, which recognizes volunteer stewardship on public lands. Contact: Amy Middleton Lower Phalen Creek Project 715-483-1414 amiddle@centurytel.net www.phalencreek.org ------- Alabama's Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership: Communities Coalesce in Cleanup Effort A historic alliance of Jefferson County and the cities along Alabama's Five Mile Creek set in motion an ambitious plan to clean up and revitalize a waterway that once had the reputation of being "the most polluted stream" in the state. In fact, local residents named it "Creosote Creek" because of the smell of chemicals emanating from the Black Warrior River tributary. A master plan for the waterway envisions a 25-mile greenway along the creek's banks suitable for biking, hiking, fishing and canoeing that will serve as a magnet for ecotourism, as well as new capital investments in adjacent communities. Five Mile Creek is one of the few streams in the state not suitable for fishing and swimming, under federal guidelines. The presence of creosote, a brownish oily liquid consisting chiefly of aromatic hydrocarbons produced by the distillation of coal tar, has been a major impediment to the revitalization of Five Mile Creek. Another redevelopment deterrent is dead fish littering the waterway, a consequence of cyanide and other industrial toxins routinely discharged into the creek. Cleaning up the waterway posed some seemingly insurmountable challenges. The first was forging the necessary alliances to formulate a plan. The cities and towns along Five Mile Creek were considered unlikely partners for such an alliance. Many of them have higher-than-average poverty and unemployment rates, and budgets that don't include planners or even park renovations. To the surprise of many observers, all of the north Jefferson County towns along the creek have formed a partnership to collaborate on the cleanup and redevelopment of a 25-mile stretch of adjacent land. The principal facilitator of this partnership was the Black Warrior-Cahaba Rivers Land Trust organization established to implement the Jefferson County Greenways project, a $30 million land acquisition program designed to protect riparian corridors along area rivers and streams. The Land Trust signed a Memorandum of Agreement with six municipalities—Birmingham, Center Point, Tarrant, Fultondale, Brookside, Graysville—and other organizations to establish a greenway and parks system along the Five Mile Creek stream. The Land Trust owns approximately 600 acres of land within this watershed and, with its partners, is pursuing additional acquisitions. Specifically, the coalition aims to improve and enhance water quality, improve the physical health of area residents, and provide recreational amenities in economically challenged communities. An editorial in the Birmingham News applauded the partnership, stating, "These are not towns with deep pockets in search of a project to eat up a budget surplus. They are small towns whose leaders simply want to build a legacy for future generations." Yet, despite the advantage of an attractive location with presumably good redevelopment potential, the presence or potential presence of hazardous substances or pollutants from industrial and mining activities and concomitant liability issues have stymied the land acquisition initiative and thereby stalled ------- the redevelopment plan. Site assessments are indicated when properties intended for public use may contain hazardous environmental constituents. An EPA Brownfields grant provided funding for Phase I and Phase II assessments on selected sites in the greenway project. Final selections will be made with community input to determine site eligibility, impact on water quality, economic redevelopment potential, recreational value, and overall contribution to development of the greenway. Meanwhile, the Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership got a head start on its cleanup effort. In the town of Brookside, the coalition recruited some 200 volunteers and 15 sponsors in the first ever community cleanup of the waterway. The volunteers pulled 14 tons of debris from the creek, much of which was deposited by a flood in 2003. Fortified with a $200,000 EPA Assessment Grant and an enthusiastic corps of volunteers, the Partnership envisions walkable and livable communities with new job and investment opportunities along Five Mile Creek in the not too distant future. "Thanks to those who chose to look beyond its polluted shores, Five Mile Creek has a bright new future as a community asset," said Wendy Allen Jackson, executive director of the Black Warrior- Cahaba Rivers Land Trust. The Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership was award the "2004 Partnership Project of the Year Award" from the Board of Directors for the Black Warrior - Cahaba Rivers Land Trust. The project was recognized for looking beyond the creek's bad reputation and seeking ways to improve water quality and their communities through the development of a network of parks and greenways along its shores. Contact: Five Mile Creek Greeenway Partnership www.cawaco.org/fivemilecreek/ ------- |