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Button Hole Golf Course: A Unique Rhode Island Brownfields Redevelopment Project Once reserved for a state park in the 1920s, the 25-acre formerly state-owned property located on the Providence and Johnston border was divided in two by new Route 6 in the 1960s. Sand and gravel excavated from the site was used to build the four-lane highway and the property was graded into a flat, low-lying area with steep sides and gravel banks. Upon completion of the new highway, the site laid derelict, a home for drug addicts, prostitutes, and the unfortunate victims of Providence’s burgeoning crime scene. Located in a multi-cultural, urban environment, the site is bordered by the Woonasquatucket River, a metals recycling business, and land used by the city for solid waste disposal. Site assessments performed by an environmental consulting firm from 1998 to 1999 demonstrated lead and arsenic as the primary contaminants of concern. In addition, PAH contamination was also present. The groundwater beneath the property is a GB aquifer, making it not potable of its own accord. Developer Ed Mauro envisioned a manicured, par-three, 9-hole golf course as a teaching center that would bring the game of golf, its discipline, and all of the life lessons it can teach to the area’s 25,000 youth. This course would be a place for area youth to learn about the sport and life from adult mentors and volunteers. Local governments, the Rhode Island Golf Association, the Rhode Island Golf Foundation, and PGA Tour pros Billy Andrade and Brad Faxon backed the project and construction began in 1999. The grand opening of Button Hole Golf Course occurred in June 2001. That season, 900 kids participated in the junior golf programs available at the teaching center. In the summer of 2002, 1,400 kids participated. The golf course is operated by a nonprofit organization that reduces golf’s barrier of cost, inaccessibility, and playing time to local youth. In addition to the short, par-three course, there is also a 25-bay lighted driving range, two practice putting greens, a practice pitching and sand bunker area, and a clubhouse that includes a golf shop, indoor instruction area, administrative offices, patio, and multi-purpose function room. In addition to golf, the property borders the Woonasquatucket River, which contains wetlands that serve as a classroom where respect for the environment is fostered. A nature center and a bike path that will run along the river are also planned. For more information, visit http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/success/providence_bgc.htm Visit the Button Hole Golf Course web site at http://www.buttonhole.org
for additional information. California Announces New Funding Program for Brownfield Site Assessments The California Center for Land Recycling (CCLR) and the California Environmental Redevelopment Fund (CERF) recently announced an innovative and smart program for funding brownfield site assessments. Created by the Office of the State Treasurer, the new program is known as the California Recycle Underutilized Sites (Cal ReUSE). The funding program offers low-interest forgivable loans of up to $125,000 for brownfield site assessment and characterization, technical assistance, and remedial action planning. Eligible projects include sites with potential beneficial reuse not currently redeveloped due to lack of information about real or perceived contamination, uncertainty about clean-up costs, or concerns regarding timeframes and the regulatory process. Priority will be given to projects in distressed neighborhoods with demonstrated community support. To learn more about this program, please contact: Natasha Burger Gardner, MA Redevelops Two Sites In 1998, EPA’s Assessment Demonstration Pilot Program awarded Montachusett Regional Planning Commission $200,000 to establish an advisory committee, compile a brownfields inventory, prioritize sites, and perform site assessments within the 22 town area serviced by the commission. Two of the properties selected for assessment were 60 West Lynde Street and 30 Wickman Drive in Gardner, MA. As a result of the assessments, these properties are being redeveloped to host the new Gardner Public Library and affordable housing units. The 60 West Lynde Street site is located in the downtown area. Formerly the Conant-Ball Furniture manufacturing facility, it went out of business in the mid-1980s. A Canadian company bought the property in 1995 and ran a storage and distribution facility out of it until the facility was demolished in 1997. In the early 1990s, the city became interested in redeveloping the site for a more appropriate use. The wood frame and wood clapboard building needed to be demolished and there was concern for contamination in both the building and the surrounding property. In 2000, the city began a reuse study for the property. The plan evolved to include a parking lot and the new Gardner Public Library. The city purchased the property in 1998 and the assessment was performed in December 1999. The environmental contractor submitted a final draft of the Phase II Comprehensive Site Assessment and Response Action Outcome Statement report in January 2002. The Library Trustees are conducting additional soil borings and testing of groundwater at the site. As a result of the assessment, local and state funds have been leveraged to meet 80% of the needed $7.6 million package for the site cleanup and construction of the library. It is anticipated that groundbreaking will take place next year and the library building will be completed in 2 to 3 years. Property located at 30 Wickman Drive is the site of a former light manufacturing and welding shop. The owner vacated the property in 1995 without paying property taxes and the city took ownership by tax foreclosure in November 2000. A Phase II Environmental Site Assessment was completed in March 2000. A small portion of the property adjacent to the road was found to be contaminated with EPHs, SVOCs, and lead which required remediation. As a result, there will be an activity use limit on a portion of the parcel. This site is located in the middle of a residential area, and the Greater Gardner Community Development Corporation is working to return the property to residential use by constructing three, single-family units of affordable housing. Using Community Development Block Grant funds from the city of Gardner, site preparation and utility hook-ups will be completed in August 2002. Potential homeowners will need to meet HUD low-to-moderate income guidelines. GFA, a local credit union will finance construction by the Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School, with an expected completion date of May 2003. For more information, visit http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/success/gardner.htm Two Pacific Northwest Companies Join Environmental Performance Track Administrator Christie Whitman recognized 37 new members of the Performance Track program. The program is a voluntary partnership program with public and private entities that go beyond compliance with environmental regulations and commit to continual environmental improvement over the next three years. Facilities recognized in this program consistently meet their legal requirements, implement environmental management systems, voluntarily achieve environmental improvements beyond compliance, and report on progress. Launched in June 2000, Performance Track has quickly grown and now has a total of 304 members. This round of Performance Track members includes the first port facility, the Port of Houston; the first jet manufacturer, Dassault Falcon Jet Corp; and the first concrete manufacturing facility, Lafarge Alpharetta Ready Mix. EPA also welcomes seven small businesses, one federal facility and additional facilities from already-represented organizations, such as International Paper, Baxter International Inc., Dupont, Arizona Chemical, Dana Spicer, Lockheed Martin, Sony, Bridgestone-Firestone, Motorola, Pfizer, 3M and NASA. Individual facilities commit to specific environmental improvements. Examples of this include: a 64 percent reduction in Volatile Organic Compound emissions by 2005; a 50 percent reduction in water use that will save 20 million gallons per year; and recycling and reduced energy consumption commitments. To learn more about this program and view a list of new members around the nation, visit http://www.epa.gov/region10. Public/Private Partnership to Develop Industrial Park in Cleveland After decades of neglect, an area now known as the “Forgotten Triangle,” a formerly burgeoning industrial section of Cleveland, Ohio, will be getting a new life in the 21st century as an urban industrial park. Located at the intersection of East 80th Street and Kinsman Road along the I-490 corridor in Cleveland, the area has been plagued with significant environmental, economic, and safety issues in recent years. In the late 1800s and through much of the 20th century, the location was a thriving hub of industrial activity. John D. Rockefeller constructed one of Standard Oil’s first refining facilities at the site in 1880. A scrap yard and building supply business were located at the property in the early 1990s. A vibrant surrounding neighborhood was populated with people who lived within walking distance of their jobs. From 1913 to 1978, the Pennsylvania Railroad operated a roundhouse and railyard at the site. As the influence of the railroad declined, so did the “Forgotten Triangle” and the surrounding community. Industry moved out and rusty cars moved in as a salvage yard was operated on the site from 1975 through 1985. In 1976, an arson fire destroyed 28 homes in the nearby neighborhood that were never rebuilt. Approximately 50,000 scrap tires had accumulated over the years when an arsonist set fire to the tires in 1999. Abandoned for more than 15 years, the property was subject to illegal dumping and unknown contamination. Underground storage tanks, contaminated soil, potential impacts to groundwater, and the residue from the tire fire were some of the major environmental issues that needed to be addressed before any meaningful development could occur. To redevelop the site, a private development company, Hemisphere Development Corporation, formed a public/private partnership with the city of Cleveland, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), the state of Ohio, the federal government, and a coalition of local stakeholders. After securing unanimous support from City Council, the project garnered a $1.5 million grant from the city’s Neighborhood Development Investment Fund. Together with a $700,000 grant/low-interest loan from the U.S. EPA’s Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund, this initial financing package will pave the way for additional grant funding. Additionally, Hemisphere Development Corporation negotiated an option to leverage these cleanup funds through linkages to other brownfield redevelopment opportunities in the city of Cleveland. Through Hemisphere’s persistence and vision over a two-year period, approximately 25 acres of abandoned former industrial properties in the area have been assembled for the first phase of the Hemisphere Industrial Park. The project is expected to bring new vitality to a brownfield site long ignored by businesses, developers, and financiers. The first phase of the industrial park will accommodate up to 352,500 square feet of new industrial space, with the potential for providing hundreds of new jobs in this distressed neighborhood. In subsequent phases, the project may include up to 100 acres of contiguous, abandoned and underutilized industrial property, to provide an even greater economic opportunity to the community. For more information, visit http://www.hemispherecorp.com or http://www.city.cleveland.oh.us Go to Brownfields Spotlight Archives
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