| Summary: | Descriptions of the status of the current TAB sites follow. Crow Nation, Montana Background . A former carpet mill (Bighorn Carpet Mill) located on the Crow Tribal Reservation has been designated a Brownfield site by the EPA. The Crow Nation has received a brownfields pilot grant to perform an environmental site assessment and plan for cleanup. This work will allow the Crow Nation to develop plans for converting the property into a productive community-based facility. Concerns . The primary concerns at this site include issues related to water quality, coal bed methane, coal mining, public health, underground storage tanks (USTs), groundwater, nonpoint pollution, and environmental justice. Site History . The TAB Program has been active on the Crow Indian Reservation since November of 2000. Since that time, the Crow Tribe has requested assistance with understanding and following of guidelines associated with their Brownfields Assessment Grant associated with the former Big Horn Carpet Mill. The TAB Program has participated in numerous public outreach meetings as well as planning meetings with the Crow Tribal Government. A Brownfields Job Training Grant was awarded to the Crow Tribe and its partners, Little Big Horn College and Montana Tech, in March of 2002. The Brownfield Job Training Program trained more than 130 students on the Crow Reservation about issues ranging from Asbestos Removal to Basic Hydrogeology and Hazardous Material Safety. Activities/Status . The TAB Program has provided education to the Crow community on the possible health hazards associated with the chemicals that may have been used at the Big Horn Carpet Mill. The TAB Program and the Crow Tribal Brownfields Coordinator attended the Brownfields 2002, 2003, and 2004 meetings. The networking opportunities as well as learning from other programs has been extremely beneficial to the Crow Tribal Brownfields program. The TAB Program will continue to assist the Crow Tribal Government by reviewing the document and assisting with public outreach. Accomplishments . The TAB Program has provided a constant link between EPA and the Crow Tribal Government. The TAB Program also has provided outreach on the status of the Big Horn Carpet Mill to the Crow community. The Big Horn Carpet Mill Phase I and II has been completed, and the Crow Tribe has placed the Carpet Mill on their priority list to redevelop, but they have taken it upon themselves to protect the community surrounding the carpet mill by securing all points of entry and painting the outside in an effort to help attract new development. There will be an effort to attract industries that produce green products because of the bioaccessibility in the area. This all was completed because of the physical dangers and chemical exposures associated with the Carpet Mill that was determined by the Phase I and II assessments. The TAB Program also has built up the capacity of the Crow Nation in terms of understanding various treatment technologies such as phytoremediation, bioremediation, and mine waste treatment/controls. Future . This work will result in creating a baseline to environmental and industrial assessment and in developing a more effective working relationship with federal agencies for the Crow Government, as well as provide a connection with Little Big Horn College and Montana Tech as an option for the future college students of the Crow Nation. Montana Tech is also looking into modeling the groundwater associated with the Crow Nation and building a mathematical model to help the Crow Nation understand their water rights. Fort Belknap Reservation, Montana Background . The Gross Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes, referred to as the Fort Belknap Indian Community (FBIC), reside on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. In 1888, an Act of Congress established the reservation. The site for the Fort Belknap Agency as the government headquarters was established informally in 1889. The reservation is located in remote north central Montana, is included in portions of Blaine and Phillips Counties, and is about 40 miles from the Canadian border. The boundaries of the reservation are the Milk River to the north, the Little Rocky Mountains to the south, and survey lines to the east and west. The former Zortman Landusky Gold Mine (State Superfund Site) is located in a section of land south of the reservation that originally was granted to the Fort Belknap Tribes but later was sequestered by the federal government once illegally trespassing prospectors found gold in the late 1800s. On July 19, 2001, EPA awarded the FBIC a Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Grant. There currently are two sites that have been designated by EPA and the Fort Belknap Community Council as Brownfields Assessment Pilot Sites: the Old Agency Landfill and the Snake Butte rock quarry, both of which are located wholly on tribally owned lands. The Old Agency Landfill, located 1 mile east of the Fort Belknap Agency, was in operation for approximately 60 years. During this time, the landfill reportedly accepted residential, industrial, and agricultural wastes and allegedly received unspecified amounts of pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls, known as PCBs. Residents, federal agencies, and health facilities utilized the landfill for years since the agency was formed in the early 1900s. The landfill was closed in 1970. The Snake Butte rock quarry, located approximately 10 miles south of the Agency, was utilized by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in the 1930s for obtaining rip-rap during the construction of the Fort Peck Dam. On completion of the dam, the butte was left without any form of cleanup. There remains evidence of blasting, railroad construction, and other debris that have damaged the area. Concerns . The primary concerns related to this site include mining issues, landfills, ground water, environmental justice, chemical contamination, pollution prevention, capping, mine tailings, and cultural sites. Site History . The TAB Program began working with the FBIC in the fall of 2002, although Montana Tech and the Mine Waste Technology Program have had a long working relationship with the FBIC. In 2002, the FBIC requested assistance with their Brownfields Assessment Grant, concerning the Snake Butte Rock Quarry and a Former Landfill located near the Milk River. The TAB Program assisted FBIC with public outreach planning as well as review of the Request for Proposals (RFP) process and technical review of the Phase I and Phase II assessment reports. The FBIC was awarded a Brownfields Job Training Grant in June 2004, and has requested assistance in providing education associated with the grant. Activities/Status . The TAB Program has provided Brownfields Workshops to the Fort Belknap community and has worked with the Fort Belknap Environmental Protection Program in evaluating RFPs associated with the Brownfields Assessment Grant. The TAB Program attended both the Brownfields 2003 and 2004 conferences as well as the Brownfields Job Training conference in Alexandria, Virginia, with an FBIC Environmental Program representative. The TAB Program will continue to assist in public outreach and education to the Fort Belknap Community. Accomplishments . The Brownfields Assessment Grant for the two sites has been completed. FBIC Brownfields Job Training has started with 5 courses, “Industrial Hygiene,” “Lead Abatement,” “Industrial Toxicology,” “Alternative and Innovative Treatment Technologies,” and “Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response.” This program will provide environmental education to the Fort Belknap Reservation. Our program also has helped a Montana Tech Environmental Engineering Alumni member who is from Fort Belknap to participate in our Sloan Foundation Scholarship Program to pursue his Master’s while working with the Fort Belknap Environmental Office to work with reduction of Acid Mine Drainage and high levels of zinc, arsenic, cadmium, and selenium in the mining-impacted watershed that leads from the mine onto the Fort Belknap Reservation. His goal is to use a Passive Treatment System of microbial populations located in wetlands to treat the contaminated sediment and water. This method of bioremediation and biotransformation should provide the reservation with protection as well as a recreational opportunity to the region. Future . The award of a Brownfields Job Training Grant will provide the FBIC with a viable work force to continue to clean up both brownfields sites as well any other environmental issues located on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. We have two courses scheduled for July and August: “Mine Safety and Health Administration” and “Mining and the Environment.” The TAB Program will continue to assist the FBIC in providing education to the community, as well as provide assistance with the Brownfields Job Training Grant. Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Montana Background . The Blackfeet Indian Reservation is in northwestern Montana along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Canada borders its one-and-a-half million acres to the north and to the west is Glacier National Park. This area has a diverse and complicated geology as well as diverse ecosystem. The largest community on the reservation is Browning; it is home to Blackfeet Community College. There are eight major lakes and 175 miles of fishing streams on the reservation. Tribal permits are required to fish on the reservation. The tribe operates four campgrounds. There are 14,700 enrolled tribal members; about 7,000 live on or near the reservation. A manufacturing plant on the reservation produces pencils, pens, and markers. This factory is the center of concern with the community. This site was a former Superfund site, and the community is concerned with the cleanup that took place. One of the Brownfields Programs goals is to sample the groundwater near the pencil factory for TCE. Other major uses of the land are ranching and farming. The principle crops are wheat, barley, and hay. Concerns . The primary concerns are Superfund cleanup, landfills, groundwater, environmental justice, chemical contamination, pollution prevention, contaminated sediments, contaminant transport, environmental toxicants, and cultural sites. Activities/Status . The TAB Program conducted a one-half day Brownfields 101 course at the Blackfeet Community College in April of 2004. This course was broadcast on the local channels to the Blackfeet Community. The TAB Program has provided the Blackfeet Environmental Department samples of successful Brownfields Job Training Programs Proposal. Accomplishments . The TAB Program also has been contacted by the Blackfoot Environmental Program to provide technical review of their Brownfields Job Training Grant (due January 2005). The Blackfeet Tribe was unsuccessful in their effort to obtain a Brownfields Job Training Grant for 2005. The TAB Program will review EPA comments with the Blackfeet Tribe to reapply next year. Future . The TAB Program has been working with the Blackfeet Environmental Office on determining a possible educational short course that we can provide that would be beneficial to the Blackfeet Community. Newburg, Missouri Background . Newburg is a small, rural, south central Missouri community impacted by a railroad yard brownfield. This site is being cooperatively managed by the TAB teams at Kansas State and Montana Tech. Newburg was founded by the Frisco railroad in the early 1880s. An announcement came in 1882 by the Frisco officials that the railroads division point between Springfield and St. Louis would have to be moved because of the engineering requirements of fueling, watering, and repairing engines, and other maintenance needs. The crews needed a place to rest and the passengers had to be fed. A great flurry of activity ensued with Rolla and Newburg fighting it out in the local papers over “why Newburg?” The railroad management had its mind set, and a round house was built, maintenance buildings erected, a hotel constructed—The Houston House (as it is known today), and a town sprung up. The meat market in Newburg was known for its cuts and folks from Rolla (10 miles away) used to travel to Newburg for grocery shopping (imagine that 100 years ago). By the 1940s, as diesel engines took over, the need for Newburg’s railroad presence faded, and it became a sleepy location nested on the banks of the Little Piney River. Today Newburg is being reborn and Montana Tech and Kansas State are helping to get that done. The Houston House is getting a facelift, a championship golf course is being constructed down the road toward Fort Leanard Wood, the community is in the process of redeveloping a 27-acre brownfield between town and the river for a park, historic interpretation of the Round House Foundation and the Railroad story also are being developed, a high school track will be built, and other businesses will be reborn. In addition, a tourism emphasis is being examined to take advantage of the Mark Twain National Forest that sits to the south. Newburg is becoming an excellent example of successful multicenter TAB cooperation. Concerns . The primary concerns are fuels and oils storage tanks, groundwater and soil contamination, as well as socioeconomic development. Activities/Status . The community has engaged with the railroad to acquire 27 acres on the Little Piney River. The Bank of Newburg has committed funds for the land. The community also has purchased the Houston House, a flagship project of Historic Redevelopment. We currently are waiting for Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad to review the Environmental Agreement again. It is their first buy-sell for a Missouri brownfield, and they are reviewing everything many times. Meetings continue to organize economic development plans for the railroad site and the State of Missouri has committed $80,000 plus to a Phase I and a limited Phase II prior to purchase of the brownfield from the railroad. We are currently gaining access agreement from Burlington Northern Railroad. LaBarbera Wigfall has been engaged from Kansas State to undertake a visioning process and the first community meeting was held July 8th for this. This process will continue. Kansas State is putting together a visioning brief to present to the community. Blasé Leven, Wendy Griswold, Karl Burgher, Frank Fear, and LaBarbera Wigfall are engaged with the community. Community point of contact is Marvin Helms of the Caring Communities Partnership in Rolla, Missouri. Accomplishments . Meetings with the community are held about once a month. The City has contracted with the Railroad to purchase the first 27 acres, and additional lands may be acquired over time. Missouri has committed funds. $80,000 + for a targeted assessment TAB is helping the community with the technical aspects of the characterization. The Houston House has been purchased. Frank Fear, Michigan State, and graduate students, are engaged and writing a case study about the site. Future . Ed Mahoney, also from Michigan State, has agreed to contribute. He and Frank are both faculty of the Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies and Ed is a leading national tourism expert. Ed travels the entire United States and in some parts of the world to help many types of organizations with their tourism efforts. He will come to Newburg in the near term as well to observe, inspect, and make recommendations. Newburg is in the foothills of the Ozarks and abuts the Mark Twain National forest. Montana Tech also is involved with the socioeconomic development, community and public relations, and the baseline implementation of a visioning effort. Karl Burgher visits Newburg every couple months or so from West Virginia. Kansas State will follow up with visioning sessions with their landscape architects and contribute their brownfields technical expertise. Both Montana Tech and Kansas State will be involved with any further characterization that is necessary and perhaps a Job Training Grant into the next fiscal year. Shelby , Montana Background . Shelby was named after Peter P. Shelby, general manager of the Montana-Central Railroad. In 1891 the Great Northern was making its way to Marias Pass; the builders threw a box car from the train and called it a station. Shelby himself is believed to have said that Shelby would not amount to much. He was wrong; Shelby grew into a distribution for a trade center for 50 miles in every direction. In the late 1890s the town was a cowboy town with hardly any fences or homesteaders. By 1913 there were 5,000 entries for land in just one office. Homesteaders flooded into the area. The homesteaders suffered droughts and became very desperate. By the 1920s there was an exodus of homesteaders. In 1921 Gordon Campbell, a geologist, found oil that stretched all the way to the Canadian border. New life came to Shelby. Shelby is historically significant for the Dempsey-Gibbons World Heavyweight Championship prizefight held there on July 4, 1923. An excellent Indian artifact collection is on display at the Toole County Library. The Marias River, named after Meriwether Lewis’ cousin, winds its way through town, past the Marias Valley Golf Course and Country Club as well as Williamson Park, where camping and outdoor recreation can be found. With a population of 3,300 today Shelby is attempting to regain some of its past splendor. Which brings us to the Shelby Middle School and its importance to the community to be used as a revitalization tool. The Shelby Middle School is one of three schools that have been abandoned in the area after the new kindergarten-6th grade elementary school was built. The Town of Shelby has been awarded a Brownfields Clean-up Grant, and Lorette Carter Community Economic Development Director contacted the TAB Program to assist them through this process. Concerns . The primary concerns related to this site are asbestos, lead, historic preservation, and economic redevelopment. Activities/Status . The TAB Program has just been contacted, and Dr. Woods currently am is scheduled for her first site visit in July. She contacted Stephanie Wallace, Montana’s EPA Brownfields Coordinator, to inform her of the Program’s involvement as well as to request for the city of Shelby a Targeted Brownfields Assessment Application. The application was forwarded to Mrs. Carter. Accomplishments . The TAB Program is in the initial stages of communication with the City of Shelby. Future . Dr. Woods looks forward to assisting the City of Shelby with understanding the Brownfields Programs as well as helping with their community revitalizations. The status of the inactive TAB sites follows. Bear Paw Development Hill County , Montana Background . Hill County is located in north central Montana, covering an area of approximately 2,896 square miles with a total population of 16,673 (or a population density of approximately 5.8 persons per square mile). The largest community within Hill County is Havre with a population of 9,621 (based on the 2000 census), and the primary industry in the county is agriculture. Hill County also includes a portion of the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation and is the regional trade center for the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. According to the 2000 census, 2,884 American Indians live in Hill County. The BNSF Railway maintenance shop is located in Havre along with a diesel-refueling stop for all trains traveling Montana’s northern line. A total of approximately 35 trains per day travel through Havre and utilize the diesel refueling station. A variety of light manufacturing plants also are located in the community as well as former gas stations, paint shops, dry cleaners, and various agricultural related businesses. Concerns . The concerns related to this site include railroad refueling and maintenance areas (BNSF), abandoned USTs, former industrial properties, former autobody repair and paint shops, nonpoint source pollution, and groundwater contamination. Site History . The TAB Program has been engaged with Bear Paw Development (BPD) in Hill County since the spring of 2003. The TAB Program attended public meetings in April 2003 concerning Brownfields issues and the development of a Brownfields program within Hill County. Although BPD initial Brownfields Assessment Grant efforts were not funded by EPA, they plan on resubmitting in December of 2003. Since then, the TAB Programs of the Rocky Mountain Regional HSRC and the Midwest HSRC have provided BPD with an Institutional Control Map of contaminated areas. This tool will help strengthen BPD grant application as well as provide a wonderful planning tool for the community. Activities/Status . Because this project is in the early stages, the TAB Program’s primary goal will be to help identify potential development opportunities and to provide information and support to the Havre community. The TAB Program will offer various meetings and workshops to help the community better understand the technical issues surrounding the Brownfields Program. Hill County’s Brownfields Grant Proposal was denied by EPA for funding this last year. They have requested from the TAB Program groundwater training, to better understand some of the environmental issues that plague them. In addition, TAB will be working with Kansas State University to develop an “Institutional Control” map of contaminated areas for city planning. This map will serve as a tool for Havre and as an example case study for Kansas State University to develop an institutional control project. Accomplishments . At the request of Hill County, TAB personnel completed a site visit and presentation of the TAB capabilities in March 2003. Hill County submitted the application for funding to EPA in March 2003, with an expected notification of award in June 2003. Although Hill County was not awarded funding, Hill County is expected to resubmit the application this next year and has requested training on topics such as introductory hydrogeology, groundwater contamination, and brownfields development. Future . TAB will meet the needs of the community by creating and providing educational materials, workshops, and/or presentations, as necessary. Overall, the public will develop an enhanced understanding of a variety of issues such as groundwater contamination from petroleum contaminated sites so that private investors will more likely consider developing local real estate. The “Institutional Control Map” of contaminated areas may be used as a planning tool for Havre. Spirit Lake Reservation, Fort Totten, North Dakota Background . The Spirit Lake Sioux belong to the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Band. The Tribe’s ancestral grounds lie in what is now Minnesota. An 1862 gold discovery in Minnesota enticed gold seekers and settlers through Minnesota Sioux Country, resulting in the Minnesota Uprising that same year. Following this conflict, many of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Band migrated southwest to what is now known as the Fort Totten, North Dakota, area. The reservation was established in 1867 by a treaty between the United States Government and the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Bands. The Candeska Cikana Community College just recently received a Brownfields Training Grant and has requested TAB assistance. Concerns . The concerns at this site include contamination to groundwater and surface water, brownfields issues, hazardous waste, and cultural issues. Site History . The TAB Program has had a long standing relationship with Fort Totten and the Candeska Cikana Community College. This relationship began during the original HSRC program when Kansas State University was the lead institution for the HSRC representing EPA Regions 7 and 8. During the transition period between the current Rocky Mountain Regional HSRC and the former HSRC, the TAB Program has been monitoring and maintaining communication with this community. Recently, the TAB Program assisted this community with issues concerning their Brownfields Job Training Grant. This site currently is closed, but future requests for TAB assistance will be evaluated at the time of the request. Activities/Status . Fort Totten and the Candeska Cikana Community College located on the Spirit Lake Reservation have contacted the TAB Program requesting assistance with their Brownfields Job Training Grant. In particular, they needed help locating educational contractors. The TAB Program has provided assistance in locating and contacting contractors to provide their job training. This was completed and assistance was terminated. This site will be closed. Accomplishments . The TAB Program has provided Fort Totten and the Candeska Cikana Community College with the contact information to local educational contractors as requested. Future . Future involvement with the TAB Program will be evaluated upon need for assistance as well as budgetary issues. Gold Hill Mesa Tailings Site, Colorado Springs, Colorado Background . This 200-acre site formerly contained a gold ore processing plant. The ore was shipped to the site from mines located in the Cripple Creek mining area. The site, located within the city limits of Colorado Springs, has been abandoned for several years. Recently, the site has been proposed for high-density residential use. An environmental assessment was performed under the State of Colorado’s Voluntary Cleanup Program. The results of that assessment identified the presence of several heavy metals in the soils and concluded that the site was appropriate for residential use if soil was stabilized and a cap placed over the site. Site grading is under way. Concerns . Community members living nearby have been concerned about three principal issues: Does the proposed capping provide sufficient protection for the prospective residents? Are adequate measures being taken to suppress dust during the site grading? Will there be contaminated runoff from the site into the nearby stream system? Site History . TAB activity began in the winter of 2002 and ended in the summer of 2003. Although this site had a relatively short life as a TAB project, the lines of communication that where formed by TAB’s involvement between the community, EPA, and the State of Colorado were substantial. As this project continues to develop, the TAB Program will remain idle, unless the community requests for more appropriated TAB assistance. Activities/Status . TAB met with community members to ascertain concerns and to develop an understanding of the site. Community members took TAB representatives on a tour of the site and provided preliminary documentation regarding site activities. This site is temporarily closed. Accomplishments . TAB has created an awareness of the regulatory process used in assessing this site and has facilitated access to current environmental records, thus permitting community members to decide on an appropriate course of action. TAB has directed the community to the appropriate history and environmental documentation. Future . This site will be closed by the TAB Program, but EPA and the State of Colorado will continue working with this community. TAB will remain accessible to community requests.
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