DNRP > SWD > Brownfields > Background

Background

In 1998, King County and the City of Seattle received a $200,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields Assessment Pilot Grant to conduct environmental site assessments in King County. Between 1998 and 2003, the county and the city received an additional $700,000 in EPA Assessment Grant funds, including $200,000 in 2003.

Grant funds have been used to contract with the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS) (external link) to run the Environmental Extension Service (EES) (external). The EES provides free technical assistance to private individuals and businesses, nonprofit organizations and municipalities in assessing and cleaning up contaminated sites, also known as Brownfields.

A Brownfield is defined by EPA as "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."

The EES and the Brownfields Program were created out of the Duwamish Coalition (external), a public-private partnership that met from 1993 to 1997 to address economic development and environmental contamination in the Duwamish/Tukwila Manufacturing Industrial Center. The coalition was created to help implement the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA) (external) by developing strategies to encourage development in urban areas, reduce sprawl, encourage economic development and protect the environment.

Between 1999 and 2003, the Brownfields Program and the EES:

• Completed 50 initial environmental site assessments
• Assessed 253 acres
• Leveraged $2,450,000 in private-sector investments in assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of Brownfield properties

In addition to receiving funds for assessment, King County has received additional EPA grant funds to clean up underground storage tanks on Brownfield properties, provide job training in Brownfield assessment and cleanup through the King County Jobs Initiative Program, and create a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (BCRLF) to make low-interest loans for Brownfield cleanup.

Several specific sites have received comprehensive assistance from the Brownfields Program, resulting in their successful assessment, cleanup and redevelopment. Success stories include:

• North Coast Chemical
• Rainier Court
• Kwik Cleaners
• Mid-Fork Snoqualmie River

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