Community Impact Award – Andrew Rypien Field, Spokane, Washington

Excerpts from a summary in the Doctoral Thesis, Contaminated Brownfield Sites: Impact on Asset Value and Strategies for Redevelopment , of Dr. Daniel B. Koroma

Photography by Dr. Daniel B. Koroma

The Andrew Rypien Field stands as a model of remarkable achievement in brownfields redevelopment. A consortium of local community groups, government entities, and private corporations worked together to transform a Superfund site listed on EPA's National Priorities List since 1994, into a sports complex serving over 4,500 neighborhood children.

During Construction

Site Plan of Sports Complex

Sports Complex - After Redevelopment

The Spokane Junkyard/Associated Properties site covers approximately 16 acres of an area designated for light commercial enterprise and low-income residences in northeast Spokane. Several private businesses, single-family residences, a low-income apartment complex, and an elementary school surround the site. Prior to its redevelopment as a sports complex, the site contained the following properties: Spokane Junkyard, which accepted military surplus items, automobiles, heavy equipment, appliances, and electrical transformers from the 1940s to 1987; an adjacent property where Spokane Metals Company recycled scrap metal and transformers from 1936 through 1983; a vacant residential lot; and an undeveloped strip of land dedicated to public use. The site presented a hazard to children living in the neighborhood or attending school adjacent to the site. As the subject of many citizen complaints, in 1981 the City of Spokane fenced the property, citing it as a public nuisance.

Fire consumed the site in July 1987 sending toxic fumes throughout the neighborhood. Responding to an explosion of unidentified chemicals and concerns about various potentially hazardous materials stored at the site, the Washington Department of Ecology notified the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Following the fire, the EPA conducted an emergency investigation and partial cleanup of the site. Asbestos and drums of hazardous wastes were removed from the site. High levels of lead and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contaminated the soils of the Spokane Metals portion of the site. The most highly contaminated soils were removed and the site was added to the National Priorities List (NPL) in May 1994.

Over 100 parties were identified as potentially responsible persons (PRPs). In 1995, EPA issued an Administrative Order specifying responsibility for site cleanup to the PRPs. Three firms, Washington Water Power, Kaiser Aluminum and Inland Power and Light Corporation, volunteered to pay cleanup costs for the site. Forming the Spokane Junkyard Cleanup Committee, the firms invited representatives from the Northeast Community Center (Mary Gaddy) and the Bemiss neighborhood (Marlene Stewart) to actively participate in the ongoing process of selecting a cleanup remedy, implementing the chosen remedy, and ensuring that the cleaned site was ready for community use.

Working with committee members, representatives of the PRPs, and other stakeholders, EPA selected a site remedy that included consolidation and treatment of soils, placement of a soil cap covered with six feet of clean soil, and institutional controls. The entire site was cleaned to residential standards. Ms. Gaddy was instrumental in facilitating neighborhood public meetings and keeping interest in the project alive through a series of articles published in the community newspaper.

In September 1997, the former junkyard site was removed from the NPL. Marlene Stewart, the Bemiss neighborhood representative, approached the Spokane Youth Sports Association (SYSA) asking them to consider the site for a potential sports complex. Although a small portion of the site was donated by the PRPs for community use, the SYSA purchased 15 acres developing it into the Andrew Rypien Field. Named for the young son of NFL quarterback Mark Rypien, a former resident of Spokane, the complex consists of six soccer fields, four softball fields, two basketball courts, a baseball field, picnic area, and concession stand. Future phases will add more playing fields and other amenities. So successful was Ms. Stewart in overcoming the stigma of a Superfund site, the SYSA now uses the slogan “Superfund to SuperFUN” in its fund-raising campaign.

Remarkably, the entire redevelopment process was completed without controversy and generated no negative media attention, even though hundreds of local area residents were involved in the process. The Andrew Rypien Field project is an example of the benefits reaped when community groups, government, and corporations work together in partnership toward a common goal.

To learn more about this project, contact Mary Gaddy, Northeast Community Center at MGAD461@ECY.WA.GOV or Kevin Rochlin, EPA Region 10 Site Manager at Rochlin.Kevin@epamail.epa.gov .

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