Spokane wins EPA grant for Hillyard brownfields cleanup

The city of Spokane recently won a $200,000 federal environmental grant as part of its plan to clean up and redevelop contaminated industrial sites in the Hillyard area.

The grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will pay for studies of contamination and needs for utility infrastructure, including stormwater disposal.

It is the third grant in what city officials hope will become a series of grants to jump-start redevelopment in the Hillyard area.

A crucial part of the program is creating a team approach with community and business leaders, said Teri Stripes, assistant city planner.

In 2012, the City Council established a Northeast Public Development Authority.

The five-member board of community members is being expanded to a seven-member board to spread out an increasing workload, Stripes said.

The redevelopment area, called The Yard, is loosely defined as about 500 acres of light and heavy industrial land as well as about 300 acres of residential property located north of Garland Avenue and east of Market Street.

It is made up of the former Hillyard rail yard and manufacturing center of the Great Northern Railway, an early transcontinental line that is now part of the BNSF Railway system.

Stripes said that BNSF has been involved in discussions about redevelopment.

Spokane has several other major businesses there, including Safeway’s distribution center, Philadelphia Macaroni Co., URM’s distribution center, FSA Spokane and Powers Candy & Nut Co.

Funding is aimed at cleaning up and revitalizing what are known as brownfields – land suspected of contamination. The state and federal governments are providing grant funds and economic incentives to stimulate redevelopment in brownfields. Contamination by petroleum products and possibly other chemicals and substances has long been a concern in redevelopment in the area.

City Councilwoman Amber Waldref, who represents northeast Spokane, said identifying sites for cleanup is one goal of the current planning. She said coordinating the work is complicated by a large number of smaller sites with different ownerships.

The Hillyard industrial area is seen as ripe for redevelopment with plans to complete a North Spokane Corridor freeway along with existing rail and road infrastructure. It is a designated route for free trade with Canada.

The Northeast Public Development Authority board will have the ability to make funding available to the private sector through low-interest loans.

Currently, the PDA work has concentrated on identifying issues and planning a strategy for redevelopment.

Two grants approved last year include a $110,000 state Department of Commerce grant and $22,000 grant for economic development.

Stripes said the grants help get The Yard in line for additional grant money. “It prioritizes us for future funding for cleanups of brownfields,” she said.

Two more grants being sought would bring in $300,000 for environmental assessments and planning and a $400,000 grant to continue assessments and plan for remediation.

Consultants are providing services under the grants, Stripes said.

“This is work that is just beginning,” she said, explaining that redevelopment is the long-range goal.