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MI DEQ Supports
Rural Brownfield Cleanups with Mix of Funding A reduction in state funding for brownfield cleanups in Michigan, has the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) looking for other ways to support redevelopment efforts in the state. Local tax increment financing, which reimburses developers for their cleanup costs, is often used in urban areas. In rural parts of the state, however, additional incentives are often necessary to make a redevelopment project viable. That’s where brownfield funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) comes into play. The Michigan DEQ was awarded a $250,000 Brownfield Assessment Grant in October 2004 to conduct environmental assessments at seven sites in six rural communities to increase the likelihood of redevelopment.
Together with township and village officials, the DEQ’s Remediation and Redevelopment Division (RRD) staff identified sites with redevelopment potential and created a comprehensive assessment and cleanup plan culminating in a successful proposal. Work on the Phase I site assessments has already started at three properties in Arenac County, two properties in Berrien County, and one each in Saginaw and Tuscola counties. The DEQ has supplemented the EPA grant with funding from the state’s Clean Michigan Initiative (CMI) bond fund to perform the necessary remedial activities. Completion of the projects is expected in two years. Berrien County Properties : Two former gas stations, the Red Arrow Highway Station and the Cozy Corner General Store were nominated for state funding by Watervliet Township for building demolitions, underground storage tank (UST) removals, and leaking UST investigations. While waiting for funding, the township officials took title to the tax reverted properties, and went one step further by contracting out the demolitions themselves. RRD’s project manager adjusted the scope of work to eliminate the building demolition, and perform full Phase I and II assessments in order to attract developers. The township has aggressively marketed the Red Arrow station property, since it is adjacent to a Renaissance Zone (a local and state tax-free industrial development zone), and the Watervliet Area Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is working to identify end users for both properties. Tuscola, Saginaw, and Arenac County Properties: These five brownfield sites were nominated for state funding by RRD staff for building demolitions, UST removals, and leaking UST investigations. The sites include abandoned gas stations in Tuscola and Saginaw counties, and three sites - a former automotive dealership, a former general store, and a hardware store - in Arenac County. The five properties had tax reverted to the state for non-payment of taxes. In Tuscola County, the former Jughead’s Mini Mart, abandoned for over 10 years, was a local landmark, being the only (abandoned) gas station on a long stretch of state road. Several interested parties are already clamoring for the DEQ to complete the tank removal and site assessment in order to redevelop the store. The former gas station located in Buena Vista Charter Township in Saginaw County was demolished in the late 1980s, but the presence of the USTs and lack of a site investigation prevented the property from being marketable. Phase I and II assessments will provide enough information for an identified purchaser to complete a Baseline Environmental Assessment, protecting them from liability for any past contamination. The former Arnold’s Hardware store in the Village of Twining (Arenac County) is the ideal brownfield site. There is anecdotal information about past hazardous materials storage and (mis) handling practices, but no actual data to back up these stories. The stigma has kept any potential purchasers at bay. With help from the village and Arenac County EDC in the form of tax increment financing, along with the Phase I and II assessments, and a dangerous building demolition being performed, developers should come knocking. For more information on these grant sites, please contact Ronald
Smedley of the Michigan DEQ at 517-373-4805, or smedley@michigan.gov.
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