Brownfields Supplemental Assistance

PILOT SNAPSHOT	Date of Announcement: May 2002 Amount: $150,000 Target Area: City of Waterloo, Iowa
Profile: The Pilot targets approximately 350-acres located immediately south of the Central Business District in Waterloo's Rath Neighborhood Area.

BACKGROUND

EPA awarded the City of Waterloo supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot. The City of Waterloo (population 66,467) was once known as the Factory City of Iowa. Waterloo's economy has declined since the collapse of the food production industry in the 1970s and the agricultural economy in the 1980s. Waterloo now is home to numerous commercial and industrial properties that are abandoned and perceived to be contaminated. The Pilot's main area of focus, the Rath Neighborhood Area, represents the highest density of seriously deteriorated housing in Waterloo. About 46 percent of its residents are living in poverty and the unemployment rate is 15 percent. The Pilot area is within a state-designated Enterprise Zone.

The original Pilot completed Phase I environmental assessments on the 11-acre Construction Machinery Company (CMC) site and multiple properties along the Cedar River in the Rath Neighborhood area. Supplemental funds will allow the Pilot to continue efforts to characterize risks associated with the CMC site and to examine additional properties with perceived contamination. These properties include a livestock facility, former light castings foundry, well drilling equipment manufacturing company, cement tile machinery manufacturing facility, gas engine and machine manufacturing facility, and numerous other industrial operations.

OBJECTIVES

The goal of the Pilot is to improve the quality of life in the Rath Neighborhood Area. In order to achieve this goal, supplemental funds will be used to conduct Phase II environmental assessments on sites that initially were addressed during original Pilot. Phase I environmental assessments will be conducted at additional sites to be determined within the Rath Neighborhood Area.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Proceeding with Phase II environmental assessments on properties from original Pilot, starting with the former CMC site;
• Conducting Phase I environmental assessments on additional properties to broaden the study of the target area; and
• Communicating with community, private, industry, and state and Federal organizations for continued support and consent throughout the assessment process.

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 Waterloo
(319) 291-4366

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA Region 7
(913) 551-7003

Visit the EPA Region 7 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/region7/cleanup/brownfields/index.htm

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