PILOT SNAPSHOT |
| Date of Announcement: May 1998
Amount: $105,000 |
|
Profile: The Pilot targets a municipally-owned
16-acre property with 12 buildings, including an abandoned
power plant, for assessment and redevelopment. |
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Kemmerer for a Brownfields Pilot. The
city (population 3,250) is the seat of Lincoln County. Since the
end of the oil and gas boom in the early 1980s, higher paying
mining, construction, and manufacturing jobs have steadily been
replaced with less lucrative service industry positions. In Lincoln
County, total employment and available labor have dropped by about
40% over the past decade. Recruitment of small to mid-sized manufacturing
and professional firms is difficult because there are few available
sites, despite the area's low population density. Almost 75% of
the land in Lincoln County is federally-owned, and much of the
private land is owned by a railroad company. Homesteaders, with
patented agricultural land, account for much of the remaining
land ownership.
A city-owned 16-acre parcel represents one of the few opportunities
for redevelopment in Lincoln County. The Pilot area contains 12
vacant buildings, including a potentially contaminated, idled
power plant on the Hams Fork River. Pilot funds will enable the
city to assess the site to determine if there are detectable levels
of contamination and what type of cleanup may be necessary.
OBJECTIVES
The Pilot aims to return the power plant property to productive use while
protecting human health and the environment. The Pilot will assess
and quantify any risks posed by the power plant property and identify
appropriate, community-supported reuses for the area. The information
gained through the assessment process, and the cleanup and redevelopment
plan will be used to leverage additional public and private funding.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
- Reviewing existing environmental data to determine whether more cleanup of
the identified brownfields property is needed;
- Conducting environmental sampling on the property, to determine
the extent of contamination and associated health and environmental
risks;
- Implementing a community education and involvement plan to
obtain input on cleanup and reuse of the property; and
- Completing a cleanup and redevelopment plan that identifies
appropriate uses and public preferences for reuse.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
CONTACTS
City of Kemmerer
(307) 828-2360
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 8
(303)312-6484
Visit the EPA Region 8 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region08/land_waste/bfhome/bfhome.html
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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