Brownfields Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet

Spirit Lake Nation, ND

EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.

PILOT SNAPSHOT

Date of Announcement: June 1999

Amount: $200,000

Target Area: Spirit Lake Nation, ND

Profile: The Pilot targets two potentially contaminated abandoned buildings and two unregulated landfills.

BACKGROUND

EPA has selected the Spirit Lake Nation of North Dakota for a Brownfields Pilot. The Spirit Lake Nation has a population of approximately 5,300 enrolled members and an additional non-native population of approximately 1,500. There are five Indian bands within the Nation, most of whom reside in four community districts and five townships. The Spirit Lake Nation area includes 383 square miles of land and is located in the northeastern portion of the state. Nearly 70 percent of the enrolled members of the Nation are under 25 years of age, and the unemployment rate on the reservation is 75 percent.

The Pilot targets two vacant buildings—a former boarding school and a hospital—and two landfills in the Fort Totten area. Both of the buildings have large exterior holes from which suspected asbestos contamination is released into the environment. The landfills were primarily used for residential, commercial, and industrial waste in the 1970s and 1980s, but the dumping was unregulated and the landfills are unlined.

OBJECTIVES

The Pilot seeks to assess the potential contamination being released from the buildings and at the landfills. The principle goal of the Pilot is to eliminate the environmental threat to the tribe and ensure public safety. Assessment work and other project activities will be conducted under the auspices of a task force composed of technical and non-technical staff. The nation plans to involve and inform the community about the Pilot's status and redevelop the properties to benefit the tribal population.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of the Pilot include:

• Conducting Phase I and II assessments at the four targeted properties;

• Developing a redevelopment plan for the four properties; and

• Sponsoring community outreach activities about the assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of the sites.

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

CONTACTS

Spirit Lake Nation
Tribal Representative
(701) 766-4855

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 8
(303) 312-6803

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/

United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460

Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)

EPA 500-F-99-155
June 1999

Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)

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