EPA’s Brownfields Program has helped to bring about a cultural 

shift in the way abandoned and idle urban properties are perceived, 

from risky liabilities to dormant assets with enormous potential. Equally 

important are the Program’s statistical successes: EPA grants have 

assessed thousands of properties and enabled the cleanup of hundreds. 

These grants have also been critical in leveraging billions of dollars to 

complete projects, and providing local jobs.

The Program’s success in using grants and other financial incentives, 

technical assistance, liability clarifications, and other resources to 

promote land reuse has influenced other cleanup programs within EPA’s 

purview—including Superfund, Resource Conservation and Recovery 

Act (RCRA), Federal Facilities, Innovations, Underground Storage 

Tanks (UST), and unique, innovative programs that address specific 

areas. EPA’s cleanup programs have shifted their focus toward a land 

revitalization approach, where a property’s intended reuse is an essential 

part of the process, to ensure that the reuse will provide the maximum 

benefit to the environment, the economy, and to surrounding residents. 

In some instances, particularly in urban areas, multiple sites that are in 

close proximity or even adjacent can use assistance and oversight 

from multiple EPA cleanup programs. Ideally, these programs can 

complement each other’s efforts and contribute to an area-wide 

revitalization that positively changes economic and environmental 

outlooks on a grand scale.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Located centrally in the state, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma has made 

excellent use of multiple EPA cleanup programs to complement its 

own, area-wide revitalization effort. Known as the Metropolitan Area 

Projects (MAPS) initiative, this effort has completely transformed 

downtown Oklahoma City’s economic and cultural outlook. New 

hotels, office buildings, museums, residential complexes, and public 

transportation options have emerged, in addition to the large-scale 

cultural and entertainment facilities envisioned through MAPS. As part 

of its revitalization, the city never hesitated to make use of the spectrum 

of resources available through EPA Programs including Superfund, 

Brownfields, RCRA, Federal Facilities, and Innovations grants. Today, 

with the MAPS initiative officially complete, Oklahoma City is a new 

and vibrant version of what it was just a decade ago.

JUST THE FACTS: • Brownfields Cleanup, Assessment, and 

RLF grants awarded to Oklahoma City, 

OK have helped to leverage more than 

$2.3 million in cleanup and more than 

$49 million in redevelopment funds 

from the public and private sectors.

• Bellingham, WA has been one of only 

three cities to receive assistance under 

EPA’s Portfields Initiative, which 

will ultimately help to transform a 

targeted waterfront area into a mixeduse development that includes parks, 

housing, and commercial space—all 

while remaining protective of natural 

habitat.

• A Superfund Redevelopment Initiative 

grant to the City of Houston, TX helped 

to conduct assessments and public 

outreach associated with a 36-acre 

industrial site that has been abandoned 

since 1992. The property is now being 

cleaned up to residential standards, at a 

cost of $6.6 million.

Cross-Program Theme

continued 

The Brownfields 

Program’s use of grants, 

technical assistance, liability 

clarifications, and other resources to 

promote land reuse has influenced other 

EPA cleanup programs including Superfund, 

Federal Facilities, Innovations, and Underground 

Storage Tanks (UST). EPA wants its programs 

to complement each other’s efforts and 

contribute to revitalization projects that 

promote positive economic and 

environmental changes 

on a grand scale.

A Cache of Cleanup Tools: Using a 

Spectrum of EPA Cleanup Programs to 

Address a Wide Range of Properties
Brownfields Success Story - Cross Program Solid Waste EPA-560-F-09-021

Using a Spectrum of EPA Cleanup Programs and Emergency February 2009

to Address a Wide Range of Properties Response (5105T) www.epa.gov/brownfields/

EPA support for Oklahoma City arrived in the 1990s though the Superfund Program, 

which helped address four high-priority contaminated sites including two landfills and 

two former refineries. The city held multiple public meetings and charrettes to keep the 

public informed and gather feedback on suggested reuses. With funding and support 

from EPA and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), both of the 

former refineries were cleaned to commercial and industrial standards. While monitoring 

is ongoing, one of the properties is being used for industrial storage and the second is 

slated to become a large-scale commercial and industrial complex. Cleanup of the two 

former landfills is still in progress.

Oklahoma City Brownfields Coordinator Jimmie Hammontree describes Superfund 

Program assistance as a “stepping stone” to the Brownfields grants received by the 

city, the first of which was an Assessment grant awarded in 1998. “The early [EPA] 

Brownfields grants were managed by the [Oklahoma City] Public Works Department... 

which made sense, as the city was recovering from a big economic downturn and we 

were undertaking MAPS,” explained Hammontree. “Back then, the focus was on public, 

catalyst-type redevelopment projects. Because those early [Brownfields] projects led to 

a huge amount of leveraged, private investment, the newer Brownfields grants have been 

awarded to the city’s Planning Department. The amount of private investment in the 

urban core is going to continue to increase.”

Within the realm of Brownfields, Oklahoma City has been the recipient of two, $200,000 Assessment 

grants; a $200,000 Petroleum Cleanup grant; and a $2 million Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) grant, awarded 

in 2005. The first of the two Assessment grants alone helped to map areas of contamination and allow 

cleanup on two targeted properties, while revealing that four additional brownfields did not require cleanup 

at all. The grant’s findings helped to leverage more than $2.3 million in cleanup and more than $49 

million in redevelopment funds from the public and private sectors, creating new transportation facilities, 

commercial redevelopment, and a Native American Cultural Center for residents and visitors to Oklahoma 

City. The BCRLF award has also played a significant role in the city’s overall revitalization plan; among 

other projects, it funded the cleanup and removal of asbestos, mold, and lead paint from the historic Skirvin 

Hotel, which had been dormant for decades. The hotel’s subsequent renovation retained the original 

building’s exterior and featured an elegant lobby, restaurants, and state-of-the-art meeting rooms. Now open 

to guests, the hotel is within walking distance of the newly renovated Cox Convention Center and the newly 

built Ford Center (a sports and entertainment complex), all fitting perfectly into the city’s MAPS initiative.

Hammontree credits EPA Brownfields grants with complementing the city’s area-wide revitalization goals. 

“Those earlier Brownfields grants assisted with some important projects, and coincided with MAPS,” he 

explained. “The original [1998 Assessment grant] dovetailed into the MAPS project itself. Brownfields 

redevelopment has provided the city with a new, downtown police substation and new transit stations for 

buses and trolleys. Brownfields funding also helped us develop our East Side Reinvestment Area Report, as 

well as helping to hire consultants and developing our partnership with the University of Oklahoma.”

The EPA resources used by Oklahoma City are not limited to Superfund and Brownfields grants, effective 

as their use of that funding has been. The Agency’s Federal Facilities Program is helping to ensure safe 

cleanup of Tinker Air Force Base, a 5,000-acre site located on the city’s southeast edge. RCRA corrective 

action helped to identify safe and permanent cleanup solutions on two of Oklahoma City’s major industrial 

properties—a former tire manufacturing and distribution facility and a former automotive manufacturing 

site. Cleanup has been completed on both of those properties.

Oklahoma City’s historic Skirvin Hotel, 

during renovations.

continued 
Brownfields Success Story - Cross Program Solid Waste EPA-560-F-09-021

Using a Spectrum of EPA Cleanup Programs and Emergency February 2009

to Address a Wide Range of Properties Response (5105T) www.epa.gov/brownfields/

The City of Bellingham, Washington, from the Bay.

Oklahoma City has also been home to one of EPA’s lesser-known programs: the Innovations Pilot 

Initiative, established in 2001. This Initiative provides funding for projects that test approaches to waste 

minimization, energy recovery, recycling, and land revitalization in ways that can be replicated across 

various sectors, industries, communities, and regions. In 2002, under this Initiative, EPA awarded the 

University of Oklahoma $65,000 to develop a curriculum on the use of innovative technologies to identify, 

assess, and remediate multiple brownfields at the same time rather than on a case-by-case approach. 

The University partnered with Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, 

the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the Oklahoma Corporate Commission, and the Chamber of 

Commerce for Greater Oklahoma City. Ultimately, this partnership devised methods for integrating the 

regulatory responsibilities of the state’s Voluntary Cleanup, RCRA, and Storage Tank programs with 

federal Superfund, air and water programs to address contaminated properties within Oklahoma City.

Bellingham, Washington

Located approximately 80 miles north of Seattle, and overlooking Bellingham Bay, the City of Bellingham, 

Washington is home to more than 70,000 residents. The city’s waterfront includes a major port, and 

historical and current industrial operations such as lumber, pulp and paper mills, shipyards, commercial 

fishing, and seafood processing. Like Oklahoma City, Bellingham’s earliest involvement with EPA came 

through the Superfund Program. Sitting on prime waterfront property, Bellingham’s Boulevard Park was 

viewed as suspect because of its industrial history; the park and surrounding area had long ago been used 

for cannery and lumber mill operations. The property was assessed under Superfund in 

1984 and again in 1999. Those assessments led to a State-funded cleanup that 

eliminated further Superfund interest in the site. Today, Boulevard Park is 

one of the city’s most popular recreational spots, offering grassy open 

space and a view across Bellingham Bay. 

The Bay itself is cleaner and safer because of Superfund’s 

involvement in another Bellingham property, an industrial site used 

to treat and store wooden poles used by utility companies. Treatment 

of these poles involved creosote—which contains semi-volatile 

organic compounds—as well as oil containing pentachlorophenol. 

These contaminants were found to be migrating from the property 

into Little Squalicum Creek, just downhill from the 23-acre site; the 

creek, in turn, flows directly into Bellingham Bay. A Superfund-led 

cleanup in 1998 removed more than 8,000 tons of contaminated soil and 

27,000 gallons of liquid waste from the site, and capped selected areas. The company still operating on the 

property has contributed to an ongoing cleanup and monitoring effort. While still listed on the Superfund 

Program’s National Priorities List (NPL), monitoring results indicate that contaminant migration has been 

controlled, protecting wildlife and water quality in both the creek and Bellingham Bay.

To help address the city’s less contaminated, idle and underused properties, Bellingham received an EPA 

Brownfields Assessment grant in 1999—as well as a supplemental grant in 2001 and a second Assessment 

grant in 2003. This funding helped to assess a 13-acre, former landfill site in the city’s Old Town district. 

City officials had identified the property’s cleanup and reuse as a key, early step in the revitalization of Old 

Town itself; the property is one of several targeted by the city’s Bellingham Bay Comprehensive Strategy. 

EPA-funded assessments of the landfill site led to a more than $1 million cleanup effort, funded by the state 

Department of Ecology and the City of Bellingham. More than 12,000 tons of solid waste were removed, 

and protective caps were installed on selected areas. Native plants were re-introduced to the property, the 

banks of Whatcom Creek (which bisects the site) were stabilized to prevent erosion and protect natural 

continued 
habitat, and a new boardwalk was built to improve public access to the adjacent shoreline. Now complete, 

cleanup of this site has restored Maritime Heritage Park (located on the southern end of the property), 

provided new and safe fish habitat, and served as a catalyst for Old Town’s continued revitalization. 

A property just adjacent to this former brownfield is now targeted to become a mixed-use, residential and 

commercial center that will further enhance the area’s appeal.

Bellingham was also home to an innovative environmental technology study conducted by the National 

Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL), which falls under EPA’s Office of Research and 

Development. NRMRL acts as EPA’s center for investigation of technological and management 

approaches for preventing and reducing pollution risks, using public- and private-sector collaboration to 

develop technologies that reduce compliance costs while anticipating potential environmental problems. 

In this study, NRMRL partnered with the Washington State Department of Ecology—and with a number 

of private-sector scientific and environmental firms—to test the feasibility of using electric currents to 

remove heavy metal contaminants from water. 

The body of water in this case was a former paper mill log storage and handling pond that had also 

received wastewater from the adjacent facility. Earlier environmental studies of the pond revealed elevated 

levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), phenolic compounds, and heavy metals, particularly 

mercury. Between August 2002 and March 2003, the study involved placing parallel rows of steel and 

graphite plates into pond sediments, and passing electric currents through them in an attempt to mineralize 

contamination through a process called electrochemical geooxidation—or ECGO, for short. Though the 

study was hampered by technical problems, initial results suggest that this new technology has promise for 

treating similarly contaminated bodies of water.

Finally, Bellingham has been one of only three cities to receive a designation for assistance under one 

of EPA’s special land revitalization initiatives: Portfields. An extension of the Brownfields Program, 

Portfields represents a partnership agreement among federal agencies including EPA, the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Economic Development 

Administration, the Department of Housing and Economic Development, the Department of Interior, 

and the Maritime Administration. Together, these partners collaborate with local communities to address 

brownfields associated with port facilities—with the goal of promoting economic development while 

protecting human health and the environment. In 2003, the Initiative selected three ports as pilot projects, 

based on area needs, existing community revitalization approaches, and likelihood for success. Those 

pilots were Tampa, Florida; New Bedford, Massachusetts; and Bellingham.

Bellingham’s Portfields efforts feature a team of 15 state, tribal, federal, and local stakeholders working 

together to address and guide the cleanup, restoration, and sustainable reuse of targeted sites within a 

designated Central Waterfront Redevelopment Area (CWRA). One of those sites is a wastewater treatment 

lagoon on a dormant industrial site, which the team plans to restore into natural wetlands and fish habitat. 

Each partner in the Portfields team provides their own specialized expertise and resources. NOAA, for 

example, used one of its ships to conduct high-resolution multi-beam and sonar surveys of the entire 

bay—to improve local nautical charts and assist the Port of Bellingham in revitalization planning. Federal 

and state agencies that make up the team are collaborating to streamline permitting requirements, to 

help expedite cleanup and shore stabilization activities. Ultimately, the collaborations enabled through 

Portfields will help to transform Bellingham’s CWRA into a mixed-use development that includes parks, 

multifamily housing, office space, and commercial establishments—all while remaining protective of 

natural habitat.

Brownfields Success Story - Cross Program Solid Waste EPA-560-F-09-021

Using a Spectrum of EPA Cleanup Programs and Emergency February 2009

to Address a Wide Range of Properties Response (5105T) www.epa.gov/brownfields/

continued 
Redevelopment in progress on one 

of Houston’s many former brownfields.

Houston, Texas

Few cities have gotten as much out of their local revitalization programs, and the EPA grants that assisted 

them, as Houston. The city’s most recent inventories indicate 16 active Superfund sites and thousands of 

known brownfields, including more than 2,700 leaking underground storage tank sites. Houston’s Brownfields 

Redevelopment Program has been responsible for some of the city’s most high-profile land transformations, 

including a new, major-league ballpark; an aquarium and entertainment complex; and 

more than 1,000 residential units—all built on former brownfields. An EPA 

Brownfields Assessment grant awarded in 1997 and two awarded in 2005 

(one specifically to address petroleum-contaminated properties) have 

assisted with these and other efforts, including a citywide initiative 

to improve Houston’s recreational parks. The Houston Parks Board, 

a nonprofit organization committed to creating, 

improving, and protecting the city’s 

park land, has used EPA Brownfields 

grant funds to perform assessments 

on properties targeted for park 

redevelopment.

In 2003, EPA awarded a $200,000 

Brownfields Cleanup grant to a 

Houston development company, to address 

contamination concerns on the site of a former 

hospital. Cleanup of the property allowed the 

development of an affordable, loft-style apartment complex 

to proceed. Fully leased within a month of its opening, the complex features a “green” roof system that uses 

natural vegetation to provide insulation and reduce heating/cooling costs. To date, Houston’s Brownfields 

Redevelopment Program has brought about the reuse of 550 acres of brownfields and leveraged more than 

2,500 new jobs, as well as more than $720 million in private-sector investment.

To build on Houston’s already thriving brownfields revitalization efforts, EPA awarded the city a $100,000 

USTField Pilot in 2002, through the Agency’s Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST). EPA created the 

USTfields Initiative to encourage the reuse of “USTfields”—abandoned or underused properties contaminated 

with petroleum from underground storage tanks. The Pilot grant was used on a former construction equipment 

yard, an abandoned property that had four of its original nine USTs remaining; EPA funding allowed for the 

removal of these tanks. The City of Houston has partnered with the Texas Natural Resource Conservation 

Commission to fully clean up the property, which will eventually be redeveloped into a recreational facility and 

soccer field as part of the city’s park revitalization effort. 

Along with providing assistance for Houston’s less contaminated properties, EPA is addressing a number of 

sites through Superfund. A Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) grant is helping the city to conduct 

assessments and public outreach associated with the Many Diversified Interests (MDI) site, a 36-acre, former 

metal casting foundry that has been abandoned since 1992. The SRI grant was used to inform a citizen’s 

advisory group that recommended mixed residential, recreational, and commercial reuses for the property. In 

May 2006, a prospective purchaser of the property signed an “Agreed Order on Consent and Covenant Not to 

Sue,” representing the first-ever agreement in the nation by a non-liable party to clean up a Superfund site, and 

the first such arrangement between EPA and a private developer. Under the agreement, the buyer guaranteed 

sufficient funds to cover cleanup, and agreed to pay for EPA’s oversight costs to make sure cleanup was 

sufficient. In return, EPA provided protections for both the buyer performing the cleanup and any future buyers 

of the property. Cleanup will be performed to residential standards, at an estimated cost of $6.6 million. 

CONTACTS:

For more information contact

U.S. EPA REGION 6

(214) 665-3172

U.S. EPA REGION 10

(206) 553-1200

Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at:

www.epa.gov/brownfields

Brownfields Success Story - Cross Program Solid Waste EPA-560-F-09-021

Using a Spectrum of EPA Cleanup Programs and Emergency February 2009

to Address a Wide Range of Properties Response (5105T) www.epa.gov/brownfields/