Feature
Wildlife can complicate projects, but end result is worth it
For years, uncertainties about contamination in the Old Town district of Bellingham, Wash., prevented much-needed redevelopment in an area seeing more growth in blight than in new business.
A historic landfill sitting on 13 acres on both sides of the Whatcom Creek estuary was the source of this longtime barrier to redevelopment. Sites on both sides of the creek had been ranked for further investigation and cleanup by the state’s Department of Ecology. The city knew contamination was there, but officials didn’t know the extent, says Sheila Hardy, special projects manager for the city’s Department of Planning and Community Development. According to Hardy, the landfill had been the “elephant in the room” for many years.
Then in 1996, the city began putting together an action plan for cleanup. A remedial investigation at the Whatcom Creek estuary found arsenic, cadmium, lead and PAHs in soils, and copper and zinc in seeps entering the surface waters.
When cleanup finished, the result was much more than an economic stimulator. After removing 12,000 tons of soil from the shoreline and bringing in backfill, uplands were converted into aquatic habitat. Enough dirt had been excavated to develop a salt marsh. Bank stability and erosion problems were addressed. The creek now had a gentle slope, providing better habitat for juvenile salmon. Riparian planting enhanced habitat for birds and small mammals.
When Bellingham set out to stimulate economic growth by cleaning up the historic landfill, the community was rewarded with more than just a downtown revitalization project: They earned the rejuvenation of a shoreline and natural habitat too.
In EPA Region 10, wildlife and habitat protection is a real concern because of the region’s high number of endangered plant and wildlife species. Many communities have stressed that returning property to the tax base isn’t the only issue when dealing with brownfields.
“The environmental benefits are part of a bigger picture,” Hardy says.
Historically, West Coast industry built itself up around shorelines and rivers because it needed to move goods, says Peter Battuello, managing principal at Parametrix in Bremerton, Wash. Parametrix serves as a brownfields redevelopment contractor for EPA Region 10. As a result of that historic use of waterfront, this region today deals with many shoreline issues, which often means dealing with endangered salmon, Battuello says.
“(The Region 10 projects) are probably much more rigorous than in other places,” he says.
According to Battuello, when wildlife is involved, there’s more planning, process, study and demonstration. There are constraints on how you can handle materials, for example. Or construction and cleanup may be limited to certain times of the year because of potential issues like fish spawning and migration patterns.
When designing a project, you’re also planning for permits that take nine to 18 months to secure, he adds. For example, the $2.4 million [Sinclair Inlet restoration project] (http://www.buildingonbrownfields.com/2005/June.htm#feature) in Bremerton, Wash., has several hurdles, including an old concrete manufacturing plant, two former lumber mill sites, an abandoned rock quarry and an old auto wrecking yard. Despite the hurdles, the benefits will be worth the effort. Along with cleaning up contaminants, the project will restore 9.5 acres to native habitat, reclaim degraded shorelines, establish new salmon habitat and restore the Gorst Creek estuary, which has the highest population of returning Chinook salmon in the West Puget Sound.
Parametrix submitted its first permit application 14 months ago for that project. Construction is to start in June. And that’s considered on the fast track, Battuello says.
All of these wildlife and habitat considerations make the process more expensive, he adds. Project officials must get creative when seeking financial assistance.
In Bellingham, the historic landfill project cost $2.85 million. Grants contributed $1.34 million. These included $400,000 in EPA Brownfields Demonstration Pilot Grants, $887,000 from a state Remedial Action Grant and $50,000 from a state Capital Grant. The city contributed $1.51 million.
In Bellingham, the return on investment is starting: A key site on the southern landfill lobe recently sold to a large local development corporation. The habitat restoration and public access weren’t necessary to achieve cleanup or economic goals for the site. However, including these components in the project made for better results, Hardy says.
“The end result is a new public facility that protects human health and the environment,” she says. That’s redeveloping a brownfield for the good of both the economy and the environment, a definite win-win.
Back to Top
Problem Solver
ESA determinations are easy…if you know where to look
Do you know if your brownfield site is home to a small family of pygmy rabbits? Or could that nearby stream be a passageway for migrating salmon? It’s not just the contamination that requires assessment. These species are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), and that means you need to take them into account when tackling a brownfield.
The idea that an endangered or threatened species--wildlife or plant--could be living in or close to your project can be intimidating, even more so when you try to learn more about the impact of the ESA. When doing the research, the maze of Web sites meant to help you through the process could just as easily cause you to throw your hands up in desperation. In fact, when one Washington official suggested this newsletter do a story to help navigate others through the maze, hands went up around EPA Region 10, echoing her proposal.
Sharon Kophs, Washington State Community, Trade and Economic Development brownfields program manager, has been doing these ESA reviews herself in the pre-assessment stage of various projects. “The first time I did an ESA review, it took me two days and lots of help from federal and state agencies,” Kophs says. “The second time was about five hours and two glasses of wine. And the third try was less than two hours.” Only by trial and error—and practice—was Kophs able to determine a path.
For this issue of Building on Brownfields, Kophs has written a guide to the Web sites and the process she uses to determine whether an ESA consultation is necessary. And she offers some encouraging words, reminding folks that just because a listed species is in your project area, that doesn’t mean your project will be shut down, only that a mitigation plan should be added to the site plan.
Her guide provides resource lists with the information needed to make an ESA determination and also outlines step by step the consultation process. Many of us just need to know where to start when engaging in this ESA determination process. Kophs puts us on the right path. Read the guide at www.buildingonbrownfields.com/additional/esa.htm.
Back to Top
Groundwork
Kendall Yards team receives national honors
Only a month after cleanup was completed at a 78-acre former railway maintenance complex in downtown Spokane, the Kendall Yards team is to be awarded an EPA 2006 Brownfields Team of the Year Notable Achievement Award.*
The Spokane project, which took only 12 months to complete, is a model for brownfield projects throughout the nation, says Robin Toth, director of funding and community property for the Spokane Area Economic Development Council. “It takes a barren piece of land that sat there for 60 years and really puts a crown on it,” she says.
On March 28, state and local representatives and project officials will gather at the site to celebrate its success. The Department of Ecology, which oversees cleanup operations, has issued a letter stating no further action is needed on the property.
“We’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and that light is a shining example of what can happen when public agencies and the private sector work cooperatively,” says Flora Goldstein of the Department of Ecology’s toxics cleanup program. “Now a once-polluted piece of ground is ready to be redeveloped, adding new jobs and a larger tax base to the economy.”
The former rail yard, known previously as the Summit Property, was operated by Union Pacific Railroad from 1914 to 1955. Cleanup removed more than 200,000 tons of soil polluted with petroleum and metals. Although the petroleum contamination, at a depth of 30 feet, could have been left in place with fencing and deed restrictions, the developer removed as much of it as possible to allow for unrestricted use of the land.
The project was paid for in part by a $2.4 million brownfields loan from the Washington State Department of Community Trade and Economic Development’s (CTED) brownfields revolving loan fund. It is the largest such loan issued in the nation.
Stretching along the north bank of the Spokane River and connecting with downtown at the Monroe Street Bridge, the property now rests on prime real estate. Its developer, Marshall Chesrown of Black Rock Development in Couer d’Alene, Idaho, hasn’t released final plans for the project. However, preliminary plans include up to 2,600 residential units and 1 million square feet of commercial space. Planned is a mixed-use development with condos and townhouses, as well as retail, plaza and community space. (Read more about the project at www.kendallyards.com.)
Kendall Yards is expected to have a major impact on Spokane’s downtown area and throughout the city. An estimated 500 jobs will be created during the construction phase alone. Up to 2,500 permanent jobs could be created when the commercial space is finished, according to statistics from CTED. CTED estimates the redevelopment will return more than $32 million to the state and local government during construction.
The project is in one of the lowest income areas not only in Spokane but in Spokane County, Toth says. Its economic impact will manifest in many ways. This project will increase property values, provide valuable jobs and--with the city’s popular Centennial Trail running through it--serve as a gateway into the surrounding community, she says.
“The Kendall Yards redevelopment will create significant economic return in our community,” agrees Jon Eliassen, president and CEO of the economic development council. “The projected long-term economic return is astounding: more than $2 billion.”
A team of state and local agencies and the developer were able to move through the project’s planning and cleanup in one year. From the start, Chesrown believed he had an obligation to the community and wanted to move quickly, according to Toth. That land sat mostly idle for 20 years under the previous owner; Chesrown wasn’t going to let this happen again, she says.
The project is an example for property owners everywhere who may be faced with possible contamination on their land, Toth says. “It convinces other property owners the brownfields program is a viable, successful program to be involved in.”
*Although this is an "internal" EPA award for employees, the team in this case was far more than EPA. So EPA extended the award to all of the federal, state, local economic development and city staff, along with the private contractors GeoEngineers, Inc and Envirocon, Inc. This team shepherded the project through the permitting, environmental planning and cleanup process in 12 months, much less than time than a project this size would normally require.
Back to Top
