The EPA's Brownfield Program: Little-Known Funding Mechanism to Address Asbestos, Lead - Case Study: Grim Hotel, Texarkana

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Webinar Summary

Brownfield redevelopment remains a priority of federal and local governments to revitalize valued properties and real estate that has been deemed undesirable because of ground pollution or hazardous materials. Regardless of the political party in power, funding for brownfield redevelopment is historically consistent, underlined by the recent additional $200 million in funding from the Biden infrastructure program.

The EPA's revolving loan fund is an excellent way to leverage municipal funding and support to revitalize downtowns, industrial sites and other brownfield areas. This presentation shows the details and advantages of using the loan fund and illustrates the point with a case study of the Grim Hotel in Texarkana, TX.

Built in 1925 as an eight-story building, the iconic Grim Hotel was the second tallest structure in Texarkana at the time. The hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places and located on State Line Avenue on the Texas and Arkansas border. Plagued by lead-based paint and asbestos, the hotel and surrounding area fell into disrepair. A cleanup was planned, using an EPA brownfield grant to get started. Loan guarantees spurred private investment and redevelopment.

The $25 million renovation of the building will restore portions of the building, including the grand lobby and the Palm Court Room, and convert the former hotel room floors into modern apartments. The apartments will be affordably priced for the general working population of Texarkana, which will help in the revitalization of the downtown area.

About the Presenters

Daphnea Ryan currently serves as Grants Administration Manager and Brownfields Program Manager for the City of Texarkana, Texas. She provides oversight of all grant management activities, neighborhood services, homeless programs, HUD environmental review records, and the city's Brownfields program. She serves as liaison for the Historic Landmark Preservation Committee, and has served on the Texarkana Brownfields Regional Environmental Coalition for the past four years. Daphnea's previous positions includes years as Manager of Environmental Services. She works closely with city and regional economic development agencies, and various community organizations. Daphnea has a heart for historic preservation, which makes redevelopment of Brownfields one of the favorite aspects of her job.

Melissa Tiedemann, senior environmental planner for Stanley Consultants, is an urban planner, economic development professional, and an experienced redevelopment practitioner. During her 20 years of professional experience, she has secured and managed millions of dollars of federal and state grant funding for brownfields redevelopment and infrastructure improvements, performed environmental site assessments to facilitate property transactions and redevelopment, and developed and implemented complex public engagements. She can be reached at [email protected].

Julie Oriano, principal environmental scientist for Stanley Consultants, has experience focused on soil and groundwater contaminant investigation, risk assessment and corrective action. She has managed a wide variety of projects, including Phases I/II/III environmental site assessments for property transactions, underground storage tank removals, air sampling, storm water sampling and landfill monitoring. Julie's project experience includes EPA brownfields investigations, spill prevention control and countermeasure plans, risk-based corrective action, innovative remediation technologies, emergency spill response, NEPA checklists and directing field investigations. She can be reached at [email protected].

Webinar Format

This will be an interactive session with "live chat" capability. The session is open to environmental engineering and science professionals across all sectors and career stages. Our objective is to offer special insights on leading edge solutions for graduate and undergraduate students as well as early to mid-career environmental professionals who are considering specialty certification.

AAEES Board Certified Individuals: Attend this event and earn 1.5 PDHs towards your PDH requirements for maintaining your specialty certification.

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Thank You to Our Webinar Sponsor

Improving Lives Since 1913. Stanley Consultants has been helping clients solve essential and complex energy and infrastructure challenges for over 100 years, successfully completing more than 50,000 engagements in 110 countries and all 50 states and U.S. territories. Values-based and purpose-driven, Stanley is an employee-owned company of engineers, scientists, technologists, innovators and client-service experts who are recognized for their commitment and passion to make a difference. For more information on Stanley Consultants, please visit http://www.stanleyconsultants.com. 

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