Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Midwest Hazardous Substance Research Center
EPA Grant Number: R829481Center: Duke University Center for Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology
Center Director: Wiesner, Mark R.
Title: Midwest Hazardous Substance Research Center
Investigators: Banks, M. Katherine
Institution: Purdue University
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period: September 26, 2001 through September 25, 2003 (Extended to April 30, 2008)
Project Amount: $501,000
RFA: Hazardous Substance Research Centers - HSRC (2001) Recipients Lists
Research Category: Hazardous Waste/Remediation , Land and Waste Management
Objective:
The TAB program was established as part of EPA's Brownfields Initiative to help communities clean and redevelop properties that were damaged or undervalued by environmental contamination. The purpose of these efforts was to create better jobs, increase the local tax base, improve neighborhood environments, and enhance the overall quality of life.
The Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) program of the Midwest HSRC provided training and technical assistance to cities and other groups who were interested in redeveloping brownfields. The TAB program brought university educational and technical resources to communities affected by hazardous substance issues at brownfield sites. The primary goal was to empower communities with an independent understanding of the underlying technical issues related to hazardous substances so they could contribute substantively to the decision-making process when sites were cleaned up and re-used. For brownfield sites, this was usually accomplished by working with the city's brownfields team to provide technical assistance and research services to the city and to assist with community outreach efforts. TAB representatives provided information through a combination of special research, written documents, public presentations, and workshops, as required to accomplish the need.
Specific types of support provided by TAB included:
- Workshops on the brownfields redevelopment process
- Review of bid solicitations and responses
- Review technical reports related to environmental assessment and cleanup work performed by contractors
- Advice/assistance with engaging and involving key stakeholders in the planning and redevelopment process, including community visioning workshops
At brownfields sites, our teams worked closely with advisory and steering committees made up of representatives of all stakeholders from the community. Primary points of contact were usually leaders of the advisory committees. These were most commonly city, county, or redevelopment agency officials designated as brownfields coordinators for individual projects, or sometimes neighborhood group leaders. Other important members of steering committees included site owners, developers, contractors, state and federal environmental regulators, and citizens at large.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) program provided training and technical assistance to cities and other groups who are interested in redeveloping brownfields. The primary goal is to empower communities with an independent understanding of the underlying technical issues related to hazardous substances so they may contribute substantively to the decision-making process when sites are cleaned up and re-used. The primary motivation for involving universities in the TAB program was that universities are perceived as having independent technical expertise that is not influenced by the adversarial relationships that may exist among regulators, contractors, and city officials, and other stakeholders. The TAB program provided brownfields seminars and workshops; visioning workshops to facilitate future site devleopment; technical and educational programs for communities; site assistance and public education on hazardous substance issues; coordinated delivery of faculty expertise through public involvement, independently reviewed and summarized site-specific environmental documents, reviewed brownfields grant applications by communities; and developed targeted educational materials. Sites served are listed below and are on the TAB websites for KSU Exit and Purdue Exit :
KSU:
- Atchison, Kansas Exit
- Cardwell Hospital Site, Stella, Missouri Exit
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa Exit
- Clinton, Iowa Exit
- Coralville, Iowa Exit
- Crow Agency, Montana Exit
- Des Moines, Iowa Exit
- Heartland Foundation Exit
- Kansas City, Kansas/Missouri Exit
- Lincoln, Nebraska
- Newburg, Missouri Exit
- Oak Grove neighborhood, Kansas City, Kansas Exit
- Rittman, Ohio
- Scottsbluff, Nebraska
- Spring Lake Park, Omaha, Nebraska Exit
- Springfield, Missouri Exit
- St. Joseph, Missouri Exit
- Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, North Dakota Exit
- Wellston, Missouri Exit
- Wittenberg, Wisconsin
Purdue:
- Anderson, Indiana
- Ashland, Ohio
- Beech Grove, Indiana
- Brazil, Indiana
- Brownfield One Stop Shop, Ohio
- Crawfordsville, Indiana
- DeKalb, Illinois
- Groundwork Gary Trust, Indiana
- Muncie, Indiana
- Evansville, Indiana
- Frankfort Community Library, Indiana
- Goshen, Indiana
- Gary, Indiana
- Indy 15 Regional Planning Council
- Local Initiatives Support Corp.
- Morocco, Indiana
- Shelburn, Indiana
- SSMMA, South Chicago, Illinois
- Tippecanoe County Brownfield Coalition, Indiana
- Village of Gorham, Illinois
- Wabash, Indiana
- Washington, Indiana
- West Central Indiana Econ. Dev. District
Supplemental Keywords:
brownfields, redevelopment, environmental contamination, hazardous substance contamination, toxic contamination, regulatory process, environmental assessment, health assessment, remediation technologies, community visioning,, RFA, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, Geographic Area, Waste, Water, TREATMENT/CONTROL, Contaminated Sediments, Remediation, Treatment Technologies, Brownfields, Hazardous Waste, Hazardous, EPA Region, brownfield sites, chemical wastes, contaminated sites, contaminated sediment, risk assessment , remediation technologies, Brownfield site, contaminated soil, Region 7, environmental engineering, bioremediation of soils, biotransformation, phytoremediation, technology transfer, outreach and education, Region 5Relevant Websites:
http://cobweb.ecn.purdue.edu/~mhsrc/pageoutreach Exit
http://www.engg.ksu.edu/CHSR/outreach/tab/ Exit
http://www.engg.ksu.edu/CHSR/outreach/tab/sites/ Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.