Annual Report Details Northern Wisconsin Cleanup

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A vacant industrial lot in the heart of Ashland, just a few blocks from Lake Superior, is now poised for redevelopment with the help of two section 104(k) cleanup subgrants totaling $400,000 from Wisconsin’s revolving loan fund, known as Ready for Reuse.

The success of this northern Wisconsin cleanup site is highlighted in the recent year-end Report, a summary of the outcomes funded by a Section 128(a) Grant from the US EPA made to the Wisconsin DNR’s Brownfields program.

The former Roffers property was once the site of a railroad roundhouse in the late 1800s. At that time, the grounds were used for coal storage. Later, it became the site of the Ruth Manufacturing Company saw mill and lumber yard. In the 1950s, Roffers Construction operated on the site and did so until 2007. Additional buildings on the property also housed various businesses over the last century, including a flour mill, a grocery wholesaler warehouse, and the headquarters of a local general contractor.

These past uses brought widespread PAH contamination that was excavated and used to mitigate a subsidence issue at a closed city landfill through a cross-program effort at the Wisconsin DNR. This alternate disposal location gave the city an inexpensive option for bringing the landfill back into compliance while also providing a greener remedial alternative to the substantial transportation distance and cost of hauling the material to the nearest open landfill in this rural, remote area of the state.

Currently, the city is working with a promising development proposal for a mixed use, walkable residential and commercial space with integrated park and greenspace. By proposing a mix of single and multi-family dwellings with small footprints and affordable pricing adjacent to commercial incubator space, the development aims to appeal to new graduates of the local college.

Previous 128(a) reports, including mid-year and year-end summaries going back to 2012, can be found on the DNR’s RR Program web page.

 

 

Employment Opportunity with the RR Program

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The Wisconsin DNR seeks to fill a position with the Remediation and Redevelopment (RR) Program stationed in the downtown Madison office.

The deadline to apply is December 10, 2017. 

Environmental Program Specialist – The successful candidate will provide professional programmatic, financial and administrative support throughout the state to all RR staff. Additionally, the person will provide direct administrative support to the Program Director and Management Team. This person will specifically help develop, administer, maintain and disseminate information related to RR programs, the program’s budget, work plans, performance metrics, open records, administrative rules and records. As the Program Specialist, this person will be responsible for tracking all program payables and receivables, procurement card transactions, purchase orders, and invoice vouchers.

Please see the job announcement for additional information.

Updates to RR Program’s Sites Map Application

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Users of the RR Sites Map (RRSM) application will notice recent upgrades to the popular mobile and desktop mapping system, made available by the Remediation and Redevelopment Program. The application is used to display completed or ongoing contamination cleanup sites across the state, as well as those sites that have received financial or liability assistance.

RR Sites Map Screenshot

RR Sites Map is part of the DNR’s Wisconsin Remediation and Redevelopment Database (WRRD), an inter-linked system tracking information on different contaminated land activities.

In an effort to enhance your experience with RRSM, we have recently made the following updates:

  • The addition of “2010–2016 aerial photos” to the layer list and base map; and
  • The addition of “county tax parcels” to the layer list.

County tax parcels recently became available following a multi-year project spearheaded by the Wisconsin Department of Administration.

Other improvements include the addition of a “plot coordinates” tool to the navigation tab, a “hide labels” button to the measure tool (under the draw and measure tab) and a “law enforcement contacts” button under the information tab.

Comments or suggestions about RRSM can be directed to DNRRRBRRTSFeedback@wisconsin.gov.

Brownfields Success: West Milwaukee

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With the “snick” of a ceremonial scissor, the new Burnham Business Center officially opens for business in West Milwaukee. This former Auto Paradise site has a long history as a carriage and cartage company, going back to the early 1900s. Most recently, the site was used to disassemble cars, stripping them of all usable pieces before recycling the remaining parts.

Burnham Business Center

A portion of the new, 83,000 square foot Burnham Business Center along W. Burnham Street in West Milwaukee. The facility recently opened after guidance from the DNR’s Remediation and Redevelopment program.

The DNR’s Remediation and Redevelopment Program in the Southeast Region started guiding the cleanup investigation back in February of 2016. With an approved remediation plan in place, the SER team is now evaluating plans for long-term groundwater monitoring. The site is currently in the DNR’s VPLE program, a process by which an individual, business or unit of government, can voluntarily conduct an environmental investigation and cleanup of a property and then receive limits on their liability for historical contamination on that property.

The new 83,000 sq. ft. light industrial facility has eight tractor-trailer bays which facilitates the cross-transfer of a variety of products. As part of the site development, work crews also conducted a stream bank improvement project, where the banks of this unnamed stream were hardened and properly re-sloped.

 The ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the new facility was held October 24.

PECFA News: Fees and Reimbursement – cPAHs and Demolition

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A modified RCL soil spreadsheet has been developed to assess seven carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (cPAHs) on a cumulative basis. Using this modified spreadsheet is considered a risk assessment and may be used to determine alternate environmental standards when attaining compliance with the non-industrial RCLs is not practicable. Pre-approval by the DNR of a risk assessment proposal is required before conducting and developing the risk-based standard (e.g. by using the modified RCL spreadsheet). A second DNR approval is required to use the risk-based standards as the soil RCLs. Under the PECFA program, costs for cPAH analysis will be approved as a variance at the Staff Professional hourly rate (a reasonable amount of hours depending on the amount of data), with up to two hours of Consultant Project Manager time to review and make conclusions.

Requests to use the risk-assessment approach and alternative risk-based standards for cPAH can be:

  • Included with any other fee-based request (with no additional fee required for the cPAH calculation) submitted during the investigation or remediation phase of the project; or
  • As a separate technical assistance request with fee ($700).

It is also possible for the requests for DNR approval to be included with the closure request. In that instance, standard closure fees will apply.

For more information on the risk assessment approach or using the modified RCL spreadsheet, see:

Risk Assessment Approach for Calculating cPAH Non-Industrial Direct Contact RCLs – Wis. Admin. § NR 722.11 (1) (RR-079)

Calculating Soil RCLs for PAHs Wis. Admin. Code § NR 722.11 (1) (RR-087)

Building Demolition

Building demolition will only be reimbursed if the DNR determines that it is necessary in order to complete response actions for PECFA-eligible contamination. Costs for building demolition must be approved in advance by the DNR through a variance.

Eligible activities related to building demolition include:
• costs for consultant and subcontractors to meet pre-demolition to agree upon plan of action;
• demolition contractor costs;
• asbestos and other hazardous material inspection costs;
• abatement of asbestos/hazardous materials;
• mobilization and hourly rate for waste haulers;
• actual landfill rates; and
• actual cost of landfill environmental fee.

(Please note: DNR Project Managers have the discretion to ask for bids to obtain reasonable costs.)

Ineligible activities related to building demolition include:
• DNR fees;
• costs for consultant oversight of the demo;
• costs for consultant oversight of the asbestos or other hazardous waste abatement by certified subcontractors;
• cost to remove or haul personal property or to oversee the removal of personal property; and
• site restoration.

(Please note: Other activities may be deemed ineligible at the discretion of the DNR Project Manager.)

As the PECFA program nears the June 2020 deadline, new issues regularly come up as consultants work to close sites. The Remediation and Redevelopment Program will address these issues, providing direction and consistency in managing them. Questions about PECFA or related issues may be addressed to mailto:Jenna.Soyer@wisconsin.gov or at 608-267-2465.

EPA Grant Available for Environmental Workforce Development, Job Training; Webinar-based Application Assistance Available

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now accepting Request for Proposals (RFPs) for FY18 grants related to environmental workforce development and job training. These grants are provided to eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, to develop environmental programs that recruit, train and place unemployed and under-employed residents of communities affected by brownfields and other environmental contamination with the skills needed to secure full-time, sustainable employment in the environmental field and in assessment and cleanup work taking place in their communities.

The grants, called Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) grants, may be funded up to $200,000 over a three-year period.

To assist applicants with their proposals, EPA will hold an informational webinar for prospective grant applicants. The webinar will be held on November 7, 2017 at 1:30 p.m. EST. It will be recorded and posted to EPA’s brownfields website.

The deadline to submit an RFP is December 15, 2017. All proposals must be submitted through the grants.gov website.

Snapshot: October PECFA Financials

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The Remediation and Redevelopment Program provides a monthly update on the status of claims and the overall budget of the Petroleum Environmental Cleanup Fund Award (PECFA) award program.

Below are the updated PECFA claim numbers for October 2017, including the number of claims received, claims paid, and the total dollar amount of claims paid in the current fiscal year.

Number Value
Claims Received 93 $366,899
Claims Paid 140 $544,365
Claims in audit line (as of September 30) 32 $124,894
Total Paid FY18 $2,190,216

DNR Brownfields Report of Annual Accomplishments Now Available

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The Remediation and Redevelopment Program’s annual report to the US EPA of brownfields accomplishments, which details a year-long effort of outputs and outcomes funded by a federal grant, is now available online. The Section 128(a) Grant Final Accomplishments Report, for the reporting period of September 1, 2016 to August 31, 2017, highlights work completed in the previous funding year.

The “128(a) Final Report” includes a summary of the various metrics tracked during the year (Green Team meetings, outreach activities, etc.), highlights a number of successful cleanups and redevelopments from across the state, and features a number of important program improvements undertaken during the year.

Previous 128(a) reports can be found on the Brownfields Program web page.

 

Please Use Updated PECFA Forms to Avoid Reimbursement Delays

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To avoid any delays in processing claims for reimbursement from the Petroleum Environmental Cleanup Fund Award (PECFA) program, the Department of Natural Resources asks agents and consultants who do PECFA work to make sure that they are using the latest, up-to-date forms from the Remediation and Redevelopment program.

You can find all the current PECFA forms on the program’s PECFA web page, under the “documents” tab.

Updated forms include the following: