Brownfields 2004 Grant Fact Sheet

Caldwell, ID

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic development 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, the President 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.

ASSESSMENT GRANT

$200,000 for petroleum

EPA has selected the City of Caldwell for a brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be used to assess locations with suspected petroleum releases within a 46-acre parcel in downtown Caldwell. If necessary, funds also will be used to develop remediation plans and design.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Caldwell was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. The city has a population of about 31,000 and a per capita income of only $18,038, which places it in the bottom 25 percent of Idaho counties. Caldwell's downtown area has been gradually deteriorating over the past 40 years, as businesses have relocated to nearby Boise regional shopping areas and business districts. The city, which has a number of buildings on the National Registry of Historic Places, has decided that the best way to revitalize the downtown area is to offer a different kind of shopping and living experience. To that end, the city is proposing to uncover and relocate Indian Creek, which currently runs through the downtown areas as a covered channel. The relocated creek would run through a new greenbelt that will be constructed with help from the Army Corps of Engineers. The city's vision is to create a new International Marketplace/Municipal and Cultural Center in this new riparian area, with rehabilitated habitat on each side of the creek, including pedestrian and bicycle paths. The proposed creek path that would provide the best economic development benefit and the best habitat restoration will pass through areas with a history of past industrial and commercial uses, including previous drycleaners and several car maintenance facilities and former service stations. The environmental assessment of the land using the brownfields assessment grant funds will facilitate moving the creek, creating the greenbelt, and fostering redevelopment/reuse of the remaining buildings.

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 at: www.epa.gov/brownfields.

EPA Region 10 Brownfields Team
206-553-2100
www.epa.gov/r10earth, click on "Superfund,"scroll down to "Related Programs" and click on "Brownfields"

Grant Recipient: Caldwell, ID
208-455-4734

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