RCRA/Brownfields Prevention Pilots

Bethlehem Steel Corporation:
Lackawanna, New York

The Bethlehem Steel Corporation (BSC) facility in Lackawanna, New York has been selected as a RCRA/Brownfields Prevention Pilot. The site formerly contained an integrated steel plant occupying approximately 2.5 square miles (1,600 acres) and extending one mile along the eastern shoreline of Lake Erie. Steel was manufactured on the site from the early 1900s to 1983. Since then, manufacturing operations have been significantly reduced. In August 1990, an Administrative Order on Consent (ORDER) was issued to BSC to perform a RCRA Facility Investigation (RFI).

The goal at this site is to remove approximately 600 acres of the site from the RFI ORDER for redevelopment. As this RCRA/Brownfields Pilot is implemented, it has the potential to showcase several regulations, as well as policy. Some of the types of actions that may be highlighted include risk-based corrective action at RCRA facilities, flexibility of land disposal restriction (LDR) soil cleanup standards, and hazardous waste identification rule (HWIR)-media regulations.

Under BSC's proposed redevelopment plan, the existing property would be used for a gateway trade center and port, a medium industrial and transshipment distribution center, a business and commercial center, light industrial areas, and recreational areas such as a marina, open buffer space, fishing areas, and trails.

Bethlehem Steel RCRA/Brownfields Pilot contact:
U.S. EPA Region 2 — (212) 637-4147

Blue Valley Redevelopment Team:
Kansas City, Missouri

The Blue Valley Redevelopment Team has been selected as a RCRA/Brownfields Prevention Pilot. The Blue Valley area is on the east side of Kansas City, Missouri, along the Blue River. The area currently is considered "blighted" because many businesses previously located in the area have moved due to past flooding. The Blue Valley area has been identified by Kansas City for investigation, cleanup, and redevelopment as a part of its Brownfields Demonstration Assessment Pilot cooperative agreement with EPA. The Blue Valley Redevelopment Team consists of representatives from Kansas City, the Kansas City Economic Development Corporation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), and EPA Region 7. The team is dedicated to assessing and cleaning up the area, thereby clearing the way for redevelopment. Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas are jointly designated a Brownfields Showcase Community

The majority of the larger properties in the Blue Valley area are RCRA-permitted facilities including two former wood treating facilities with post-closure permits, a steel manufacturing facility, and an active pesticides production facility, as well as a number of generators of hazardous waste. As part of the Pilot's implementation plan, the redevelopment team intends to explore, where possible, the flexibility in the RCRA program to promote creative solutions to environmentalassessment, planning, and cleanup, and to liability concerns, thereby facilitating redevelopment efforts. For example, MDNR has committed to redefining the boundaries of the "facility" to exclude portions that are uncontaminated or have been cleaned up under the post-closure permit.

Blue Valley RCRA/Brownfields Pilot contacts:
Blue Valley Redevelopment Team — (816) 513-3001
U.S. EPA Region 7 — (913) 551-7719

PECO Energy Company:
Chester, Pennsylvania

The PECO Energy Company's Chester facility has been selected as a RCRA/Brownfields Prevention Pilot. The 88-acre site is located at Jeffrey Street and Delaware Avenue in Chester, Pennsylvania and includes 3,200 feet of waterfront. Since 1993, PECO has been subject to an EPA ORDER under RCRA to characterize and address hazardous waste contamination on 17 of the 88 acres, including 2,600 feet of waterfront. The site has been characterized, and based on the results of the characterization, PECO has put measures in place to remove petroleum products found floating on the groundwater and on the Delaware River.

The challenge of this project is to clean up the remaining contamination at the PECO site while accommodating economic redevelopment activities. To accomplish this, the Pilot will use the administrative flexibility available under RCRA and re-emphasized in the RCRA Cleanup Reforms. Following EPA's approval of PECO's cleanup plans, the City of Chester hopes to turn the site into a waterfront park with a marina, sports/entertainment center, public exhibition hall, and retail shops.

PECO RCRA/Brownfields Pilot contact:
U.S. EPA Region 3 — (215) 814-3421

CBS:
Bridgeport, Connecticut

The CBS site in Bridgeport, Connecticut has been selected as a RCRA/Brownfields Prevention Pilot. From 1888 through 1988, the CBS Corporation (formerly Westinghouse Electric Corporation - Bryant Electric) site was a manufacturing facility for wiring devices.

EPA considers it a "high priority site" due to its high National Corrective Action Prioritization System (NCAPS) ranking. In 1994, EPA awarded a Brownfields Assessment Pilot grant to the City of Bridgeport to support the city's "West End Redevelopment Project" through assessments and community outreach. The project is aimed at cleaning up the facility, thereby paving the way for revitalization of an economically depressed section of the city.

Under a 1995 Lease and Sale Agreement, Westinghouse/CBS leased the site property to the City of Bridgeport, Department of Planning and Economic Development, for the purpose of demolishing the site building. Ownership of the CBS site is scheduled to be ultimately transferred to the City of Bridgeport for redevelopment. As part of the state Property Transfer Process, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and EPA have been working together to ensure that the site is investigated and cleaned up in compliance with the State of Connecticut Remediation Standards and applicable EPA Corrective Action requirements.

EPA has worked closely with Connecticut Property Transfer staff in reviewing CBS' RFI work plans and reports and in determining issues/deficiencies common to both Federal and State programs. This Pilot is expected to have a substantial impact on the successful completion of an ambitious redevelopment plan undertaken by the City of Bridgeport. It is also expected to serve to demonstrate how EPA's Corrective Action program can work in cooperation with the State of Connecticut's cleanup program, which is not authorized under RCRA for corrective action but which has begun cleanup at the site to ensure protection of human health and the environment at this facility.

Bridgeport RCRA/Brownfields Pilot contact:
U.S. EPA Region 1 — (617) 918-1360

Visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/