B-line Trail/McDoul Yard/CSX Corridor
City of Bloomington, Indiana
Remediation Budgets: $700,000
Redevelopment Budgets: $6 Million
BCA obtained an IDFA brownfield investigation grant on behalf of Bloomington in 2000 (completed in 2003) for the McDoul Rail Yard and CSX Railroad Corridor. The City is redeveloping the underutilized property as a bike trail and city park. The site is approximately 76 acres and extends several miles through the city. BCA conducted a Phase I and identified 17 potential environmental concerns. BCA performed a Phase II and identified those areas of concern which require further action. Issues of concern included coal ash and cinder (CA&C) fill, creosote operation, unauthorized dumping or spills, engine fueling and maintenance activities, PCBs in creek sediment, adjoining bulk fuel storage facilities, and other adjoining industrial and commercial facilities. Remediation cost estimates were prepared which facilitated a negotiated transfer of the corridor to the City. A detailed Supplemental Phase II ESA was conducted on the initial segment of the Corridor focused on the CA&C to confirm it was not a threat to groundwater and to delineate the (extensive CA&C) areas for remediation. A remediation was designed that integrates the construction of the linear park, trail segments and landscaping with soil cover for the CA&C fill. Investigations and remedial designs were developed in cooperation with and approved by IBP staff. Bid specifications were prepared in cooperation with the lead civil engineering firm and approved by INDOT. INDOT provided the primary grant ($3M) for construction of the linear park and trail (Phase 1 of B-line Trail), while the IBP provided the grant for the remediation portion of the project. Phase 1 of the B-Line Trail was completed and dedicated in June 2009.
Due to the success of Phase 1, funding has been secured by the City for the remainder of the B-line Trail (Phase 2 and Phase 3). BCA has assisted the City to obtain a $400,000 grant for remediation and the city obtained grants from IDNR, Congressional Earmarks and FHA for the construction of the remainder of the trail with the City is providing additional funding to complete the project. BCA has assisted the City to obtain Phase II investigation funding through the Trails and Parks initiative for three rounds of investigation designed to minimize remediation cost. The primary environmental concern is also CA&C. Construction and remediation began in the spring of 2010 and is expected to be complete in the summer of 2011.
Brownfield Redevelopment, 5 sites
City of Wabash, Indiana
8 Investigation projects: $250,000
2 remediation: $950,000
2 Redevelopment: $4 million
Since the formation of the Wabash Brownfield Committee BCA has assisted the City of Wabash to focus on the redevelopment of five (5) brownfield sites. BCA has assisted Wabash to obtain eight (8) IDFA Site Assessment Grants (SAGI), one Low Interest Loan (LILI), two PRGI grants and one Department of Commerce grant for a total of over $1.5 million in funding for brownfield investigation and remediation. BCA has performed three (3) Phase I ESAs, seven (7) phase II ESAs, conducted r
emediation on two sites and obtained closure from the IBP on three priority brownfield redevelopment sites for the City. The first site has been transferred to the new Wabash YMCA which celebrated the ribbon cutting in the spring of 2009 on a $3 Million YMCA building. The second site (Denton) is part of the $1 million Riverwalk project for which funding has been awarded and construction is anticipated in 2009. The third site has been redeveloped as a City Skate and Bike Park. The fourth site is partially remediated and will become private offices. The City has been awarded PRG grants for remediation of the forth and fifth sites which will be redeveloped for private offices and support services, respectively.
The scopes of work and final reports for all phase I and phase II ESAs were reviewed and approved by the IDEM Brownfields section. The five priority sites included former gasoline stations (2 sites), former factories (2 sites), and demolition debris fill (one site). Issues of concern at the two former factory sites included elevated metals in shallow fill (from coal ash and cinders), petroleum hydrocarbons (from fuel USTs) and mercury in soil (from mercury switch manufacture). BCA utilized non-default closure RISC closure procedures to obtain closures including demonstrating that elevated metals in the shallow fill do not have the potential to migrate to groundwater, or are attributed to background. Remediation has included no action (1 site), soil removal (3 sites), groundwater monitoring (2 sites), and soil or pavement cap (1 site).