Brownfields Supplemental Assistance

PILOT SNAPSHOT	Date of Announcement: May 2002 Amount: $150,000 Greenspace: $50,000 Target Area: Ogden City, UT
Profile: The supplemental assistance grant will be used to extend the target area of the original Pilot to include several additional properties in Ogden City's central business district.

BACKGROUND

EPA awarded Ogden City supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot and additional funding for assessments at brownfields properties to be used for greenspace purposes. Ogden grew from a frontier town north of the Great Salt Lake into a major industrial center after completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. However, many railroads and industries closed during the depressed economic conditions of the 1970s and 1980s. Of the approximately 27 city blocks in the central business district, at least half are now vacant, underused, or blighted, and homes are rundown or vacant. Environmental contamination is suspected at many sites. The poverty rate among residents in and around the central business district is three times the citywide rate.

The original Pilot targeted a four-block area in Ogden's central business district where vacant rail yards, a former tannery, and large warehouses blighted the area for nearly three decades. The original Pilot funds were used to complete Phase I environmental assessments on all properties in the target area and a preliminary subsurface investigation on 12 parcels. The supplemental assistance will be used to expand the target area to include several more potentially contaminated blocks in the central business district. Five sites in this extended area have known environmental problems, including groundwater contamination. Targeted sites include a canning company, tune-up center, oil service station, former dry cleaning site, and junk yard.

OBJECTIVES

Ogden City is working to remove barriers to the economic revitalization of the downtown business district and systematically redevelop parcels in that district. The supplemental Pilot expands on the geographic area this goal encompasses. The Pilot will promote redevelopment by funding site assessments, cleanup planning, and reuse solutions for several blocks of the central business district not previously targeted by the brownfields program.

The area targeted for greenspace purposes encompasses approximately 10 acres of land in the expanded central business district area adjacent to the Ogden River. Land has been set aside on both sides of the river to create a park that will include new trails and an amphitheater. Greenspace funds will be used for Phase I and II site assessments of these planned greenspace areas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Conducting a Phase I environmental assessment of parcels within the expanded project area;
• Conducting a Phase II environmental assessment on designated sites; and
• Identifying cleanup options and estimating costs based on Phase II investigations.

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

CONTACTS

Ogden City
(801) 629-8995

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA Region 8
(303) 312-6019

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: www.epa.gov/brownfields