Brownfields 2005 Grant Fact Sheet

Yankton, SD

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, 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.

CLEANUP GRANT

$170,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the City of Yankton for a brownfields cleanup grant. Grant funds will be used to clean up soils contaminated with chromium, lead, and PCBs at the former Jensen Scrap Yard at 204 Mulberry Street. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community involvement activities.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Yankton was selected to receive a brownfields cleanup grant. Yankton, the economic hub of southeast South Dakota, is an agricultural service center with 13,528 residents. Both per capita and family income levels in Yankton fall below national averages. Recent downturns in the local economy have strained the community's financial resources. Six hundred jobs were lost as a result of recent business closings. Three manufacturing plants, two major discount stores, and a large department store also have closed, increasing the city's unemployment rate. The poverty rate in the target community is 25 percent. In 2002, the city and county of Yankton were declared a federal disaster area following a series of severe droughts. The effects of the droughts still are being felt. The target brownfield property, the Jensen Scrap Yard, is the most contaminated brownfield site in the city. It was used at various points as a scrap yard, railroad line, and industrial storage facility for bulk oil. Cleanup of this site will remove a public health threat, eliminate the main impediment to development in the downtown area, and preserve open space on the fringes of the city.

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 8 Brownfields Team
303-312-6803
http://www.epa.gov/region08/land_waste/bfhome/bfhome.html

Grant Recipient: City of Yankton, SD
605-665-5220

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