/ D \ Brownfields 1997 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet

\ J Des Moines, I A

EPA Brownfields Initiative

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states,
communities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into
law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA
provides financial assistance to eligible applicants
through four competitive grant programs: assessment
grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and
job training grants. Additionally, funding support is
provided to state and tribal response programs through a
separate mechanism.

Background

EPA awarded the City of Des Moines supplemental
assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration
Pilot. The city will focus on the 300-acre Riverpoint
West area located just south of the central business
district. The area is characterized by underused industrial
parcels, a number of deteriorated structures, and real and
perceived contamination from years of use for rail yards,
newspaper and magazine printing, paint manufacturing,
foundry operations, asphalt paving, and industrial
chemical manufacturing operations. Phase I
environmental assessments conducted across the targeted
area indicate potential soil and groundwater
contamination. The area is located in a census tract that
has a family poverty rate of 37.8 percent. It also has
several designations (e.g., urban renewal area, tax
increment finance district, urban revitalization tax
abatement area, and Gateway Enterprise Zone) that offer
an array of economic development incentives to
revitalize the community.

Pilot Snapshot

Date of Announcement: 09/01/1997
Amount: $150,000

Profile: The Pilot will target the 300-acre Riverpoint
West area located just south of the city's central
business district.

Contacts

For further information, including specific grant
contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
news and events, and publications and links, visit the
EPA Brownfields Web site
(http ://www .epa.gov/brownfields).

EPA Region 7 Brownfields Team
(800)223-0425

EPA Region 7 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region7/cleanup/brown fields)

Grant Recipient: City of Des Moines,IA
(515)237-1351

Objectives

The Pilot will coordinate these supplemental assessment
efforts with the other city initiatives' including a major
transportation project and cleanup of other contaminated
properties - to convert the area into a vibrant urban
village and help support sustainable growth in the
downtown area. The project seeks to utilize existing
infrastructure and will provide low-rise residential and
office space, a large public open space, and a
pedestrian-friendly design to encourage walking and
biking to the downtown area and to nearby natural
resources such as Gray's Lake and the Water Works
Park. The city will partner with the Des Moines
Development Corporation (DMDC) to accomplish these
objectives. The city will address environmental
concerns and public infrastructure to serve the area and
the DMDC will acquire the needed property and prepare
it for redevelopment.

To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to:

• Conduct Phase II environmental assessments on

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properties totaling approximately 175 acres in the
Riverpoint West area;

•	Prepare cleanup cost estimates and a cleanup
implementation plan;

•	Coordinate with the DMDC to leverage a
redevelopment feasibility study, draft a property
acquisition plan, develop a land use
redevelopment plan, and create a flow of
ownership plan; and

•	Encourage active community involvement in the
decision-making process regarding assessment
and cleanup of the area.

The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet
been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this
fact sheet are subject to change.

The information presented in this fact sheet comes from
the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of
this information. The cooperative agreement for the
grant has not yet been negotiated. Therefore, activities
described in this fact sheet are subject to change.

United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450

and Emergency
Response (5105T)

Solid Waste

EPA 500-F-00-012
Apr 00


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/!T^. Brownfields 1997 Supplemental Assessment
I jig) Pilot Fact Sheet

rwat^ City of Des Moines, I A

EPA Brownfields Initiative

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states,
communities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into
law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA
provides financial assistance to eligible applicants
through four competitive grant programs: assessment
grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and
job training grants. Additionally, funding support is
provided to state and tribal response programs through a
separate mechanism.

Background

EPA Region 7 has selected the City of Des Moines for a
Regional Brownfields Pilot. Des Moines is a financial,
agribusiness, and retail trade center in the Midwest. In
1996, the unexpected closure of a beef processing plant
in the City's central core resulted in approximately 1,300
lay-offs and widespread negative economic impact. The
plant closure focused the community's attention on the
environmental contamination that may be associated with
chemical plants, salvage operations, and agribusinesses.
The City has estimated that it has 50 brownfields,
ranging in size from less than one acre to more than five
acres. Private property owners have been hesitant to
investigate these brownfields because of potential
liability and cleanup expenses.

The City and its partners are responding to these
challenges in a variety of ways, including the planning of
the Des Moines Agribusiness Park, which is the target of
this Pilot. This 1,200-acre tract of industrialized land has
a history of environmental contamination. Suspected
contaminants include lead, chromium, volatile organic
compounds, and PCBs. Many of the parcels within this
area may be considered brownfields. The City recognizes
that successful redevelopment of this area is not possible
until the known or perceived environmental
contamination is addressed.

Pilot Snapshot

Date of Announcement: 03/01/2000
Amount: $100,000

Profile: The Pilot targets a 1,200-acre tract of
industrialized land in the eastern part of Des Moines
for redevelopment into the "Des Moines Agribusiness
Park."

Contacts

For further information, including specific grant
contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
news and events, and publications and links, visit the
EPA Brownfields Web site
(http ://www .epa.gov/brownfields).

EPA Region 7 Brownfields Team
(800)223-0425

EPA Region 7 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region7/cleanup/brown fields)

Grant Recipient: City of Des Moines,IA
(515)237-1351

Objectives

The Pilot seeks to redevelop the under-used industrial
sites within the Des Moines Agribusiness Park that are
or have been threatened by environmental
contamination. The area is well supported by easy
highway access and current infrastructure sufficient to
support the planned uses. Existing businesses in the Park
currently employ about 300 people. It is anticipated that
a majority of the workers for the new facilities will
come from the local Hispanic and Asian populations.
Many of these workers were laid off as a result of the
beef processing plant closure in 1996. The Pilot has
identified several specific objectives to ensure
successful attainment of this goal, including: removing
real or perceived barriers to redevelopment, especially
those related to the environmental condition of the
properties; securing new business investment in the
Park; creating livable wage employment opportunities
for Des Moines residents, especially those laid off by
the beef processing plant; certifying the area under the

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State's Agribusiness Enterprise Zone; developing a
quality assurance management plan; exploring liability
issues with the State; and exploring implementation of a
pollution prevention plan to prevent the creation of
future brownfields.

Activities

The Pilot will:

•	Complete a land development assessment to
determine the opportunities and challenges for
redeveloping the Park, that will include research
on land use, zoning, property ownership,
infrastructure, and flood plain status;

•	Conduct Phase I environmental assessments of
all lands in the Park to identify specific
brownfields sites;

•	Conduct Phase II environmental assessments on
a minimum of five sites in the Park that appear to
pose the greatest threat of contamination and
would be the most readily developed;

•	Secure public involvement in all aspects of the
assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of the
Park, including holding public meetings to
discuss potential cleanup plans, creating
communications products to keep the public
informed about the project, and developing an
Internet home page;

•	Develop cleanup budgets and implementation
plans, including site prioritization, cleanup
strategies, land use, ownership transfer, and
innovative financing; and

•	Develop and adopt an urban revitalization plan
and tax increment financing district which
includes the Park.

The information presented in this fact sheet comes from
the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of
this information. The cooperative agreement for the
grant has not yet been negotiated. Therefore, activities
described in this fact sheet are subject to change.

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