Port of Dbq Brownfield CleanupMEMORANDUM
July 15, 2003
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
$200,000 EPA Brewnfield Cleanup Grant Award Formal Application
Economic Development Director Bill Baum is recommending City Council approval of
the formal application to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a
$200,000 Brownfield Cleanup Grant for petroleum contamination cleanup in the Port of
Dubuque at the former Mole Oil Company site. The City has been notified that the City
was selected to be a grant recipient. The remediation process, which may take as long
as three years to complete, is estimated to cost $570,620. The City will pay for costs
above and beyond the grant funds received with monies budgeted for Port of Dubuque
redevelopment.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
Michael C. Van Milligen
MCVM/jh
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, Corporation Counsel
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
William Baum, Economic Development Director
CITY OF DUBUQUE, IOWA
MEMORANDUM
July 15, 2003
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
Michael Van Milligen, City Manager
William Baum, Economic Development Director //a~//~
$200,000 EPA Brownfield Cleanup Grant Award
Formal Application
Introduction
This memorandum requests City Council consideration of a resolution approving the
formal application to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a
$200,000 Brownfield Cleanup Grant for petroleum contamination cleanup in the Port
of Dubuque.
Discussion
In June, the City was notified that it had been selected to receive a $200,000 grant
to assist in the City's cleanup efforts at the former Molo Oil Company site near the
riverfront east of Bell Street. Part of the property is currently used as a parking lot
with the remainder being vacant land, including property that will provide for the
expansion of the Grand Harbor Resort in a future Phase 2 development. The
remediation process, which may take as long as three years to complete, is
estimated to cost $570,620. The City will pay for costs above and beyond the grant
funds received with monies budgeted for Port of Dubuque redevelopment.
EPA requires the City to make formal application after the award announcement.
The attached resolution authorizes the Mayor to sign the official application for
federal assistance and other required documentation for the EPA grant.
Recommendation
I recommend that the City Council approve the formal application for the $200,000
EPA Brownfield Cleanup Grant to assist in the remediation of prime, City-owned
Port of Dubuque property.
Action Step
The action step is to adopt the attached resolution.
attachment
F:\USERS\Pm~hre\WPDOCS\EPA\formalapp. M EM.doc
RESOLUTION NO. 243-03
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE FILING OF A FORMAL APPLICATION FOR A
$200,000 BROWNFIELD CLEANUP GRANT WITH THE U. S. ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY FOR CLEANUP ACTIVITIES IN THE PORT OF DUBUQUE.
Whereas, the City of Dubuque is interested in promoting further economic
development opportunities in the Port of Dubuque area in order to retain and attract
new job creating businesses to this community; and
Whereas, petroleum contaminated property in the Port of Dubuque may hinder
further investment in and development of key riverfront property; and
Whereas. the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through its
Brownfield Cleanup Grant program, provides funds for the clean~ p of contaminated
properties owned by municipalities; and
Whereas the City of Dubuque has been notified that it was selected to receive a
$200,000 Cleanup Grant from the EPA.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF DUBUQUE, IOWA:
Section 1. That the City of Dubuque hereby endorses the formal application to
the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency for Brownfield Cleanup Grant funding in the
amount of $200,000 to cleanup petroleum contaminated property in the Port of
Dubuque.
Section 2. That the Mayor is authorized to sign, on behalf of the City Council.
the application and required documentation for federal assistance.
PASSED. APPROVED and ADOPTED this 21st day of July, 2003.
Terrance M. Duggan, Mayor
Attest: Jeanne F. Schneider, City Clerk
A'I-I-/F_.ST: ~
~"~anne F. Schneider, City Clerk --
F:\US ERS~Pm~hre\WPDOCS~EPA\formalapp,res.doc
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
JUN 2 0 2003
OFFICE OF
SOLID WASTE AND EMERGENCY
RESPONSE
The Honorable Terry Duggan
Mayor of Dubuque
City Hall
50 West 13t~ Street
Dubuque, IA 52001
Dear Mayor Duggan:
On behalf of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), I am pleased to
congratulate you and confirm that the City of Dubuque, Iowa, has been selected as one of the entitles
with whom EPA will pursue negotiations to award a cooperative agreement for a cleanup grant. The City
of Dubuque, Iowa, submitted an outstanding proposal, and we deeply appreciate the tremendous
commitment oft/me and energy that went into its preparation.
Through the new Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act, signed by
President Bush on January I 1, 2002, EPA is working to help states and communities around the country
clean up and revitalize Brownfields sites. We fully expect that these Brownfields projects will provide
benefits to the environment and economy of locaI communities. Debi Morey, your reg/on's Brownfields
Coordinator (913-551-7593), will be working closely with the City of Dubuque, Iowa, to negotiate a
cooperative agreement and respond to its needs.
We look forward to working with your staff on the Brownfields program in a new era of Federal,
state, and local government cooperation.
Sincerely yours,
Marianne Lamont Horinko
Assistant Administrator
cc:DebiMorey
Intemet Address (URL) · http://www.epa.gov
Recycled/Recyclable · Printed wi[h Vegetable Oil Based Inks on Recycled Paper (Minimum 30% Postconsumer)
Brownfields 2003
Grant Fact Sheet
Dubuque, IA
EPA Brownfields Program
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders in economic development
to work together to pmvont, assess, safely clean up,
and sustainably muse bmwnfields. A brownfield site is
real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse
of which may be complicated by the presence or
potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or
contaminant. On January 11, 2002, President George
W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability
Relief and Brownfields RevitaliTatiz)n Act Under the
Bmwnfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to
elig/ble applicants through four competitive grant
programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants,
cleanup grants, and job training grants. Additionally,
funding support is provided to state and tribal response
programs through a separate mechamsm.
Community Description
The City of Dubuque was selected to receive a
brownfields cleanup grant. Dubuque (population
57,686) is located on the Mississippi River in northeast-
em Iowa. The Port of Dubuque was for many years
fiddled with undemsed and abandoned industrial
properties with a questionable environmental past.
One such property, a former above-ground petroleum
storage tank yard, is the focus of this cleanup grant.
The project is located within low- to moderate-income
downtown census tracts. Twenty-four percent of the
residents in Census Tract 1 and nearly 33 percent in
Tract 2 live below the poverty level. In recent years,
the city has begun a major redevelopment project along
the riveffront, transforming this blighted area into the
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Dubuque for a
brownfields cteanup grant~ Grant funds will be
used to clean up a petroleum plume that has
contaminated soil and groundwater acros*several
acres of prime riverfront development property
adjoinin~ theMississ/ppiPaver.
For ftnthefinformation, including specific grant
contaCtS, additional grant information, brownfields
news and events, a~d publications and links, visit
theEPA Brownfieli:ls web' site atz~www.epa.gov!
bmwnfieldS.
EPA Region 7 Bmwnfields Team
913-551-7786
http://www, epa.gov/mgion07/brownfields/
pt Recipient: City~of Dubuque; IA
3-5894~93
Prior to receipt of these lands in fiscal year 2003, thc City of
Dubuque has ~ccccived brownfielcls funding for an assessment
The cooperative agreement for this grant has not yet been
negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are
America's River Campus. Cieanup of the petroleum
plume will enable the city to expand the Grand Harbor
Resort and Waterpark and create new recreational and
entertainment attractions for community members and
visitors.
Solid Waste and EPA 500-F-03-085
Emergency Response June 2003
(5105'1') www, epa.gov/brownfields