Link to Quarterly TOSC/TAB Community Activity Summaries (last updated October 2006) EPA Region 10 OR Concerned Citizens for Clean Air Railroad Pollution Coalition Oregon DEQ Brownfields Program OSP Communty Group ID Idaho DEQ Brownfields Program WA Skykomish Environmental Coalition Spokane Indian Tribe EPA Region 9 CA Air Force Plant 42 ERAB, Palmdale Quemetco CIAAO Elem Tribe Perchlorate Citizens Advisory Group Fort Ord EJN, Marina Wyle Labs CAG Willits Citizens for EJ, Willits AZ Dewey-Humboldt Town Council Environmental Committee We welcome additional subscribers! Click below to sign up for our listserv -- once a month you will receive a newsletter. TOSC/TAB News You can also view past newsletters on our website.

The Lula Washington Dance Foundation Brownfields Redvelopment Project

The Lula Washington Contemporary Dance Foundation brownfields redevelopment project is a study in having a vision for a site and making it reality. Lula and Erwin Washington purchased the site in 2001 where they intended to locate their repertory dance theatre. The Washingtons were aware of the property's past use as an ambulance depot and repair facility and the presence of contamination associated with such activity. As often happens with brownfields financing, the Washingtons could not get a bank loan for the purchase of the property and used other funds for the transaction. The Washingtons then began working with the City of Los Angeles Brownfields Program to voluntarily clean up the site.

Developing the site through the brownfields process illustrates the collaborative effort that is typical of brownfields projects, which includes pulling together resources and organizations to create a success. The City used EPA Assessment grant funds to pay for the assessment of the site and removed some auto repair machinery and drums of hazardous material. The City also provided over $100,000 in EPA USTField Grant funds to remove storage tanks both above and below ground in the repair shop and along the parking area of the property. In addition, the project received local funding and technical support from the City Redevelopment Agency. These assessment and cleanup activities allowed the Washingtons to begin renovation and eventually move into the new home of their Dance Theatre and offices in 2003.

Contamination still remained at the site in the form of petroleum–contaminated soil underneath the parking lot. A risk assessment showed there was an unacceptable risk to occupants of the building due to vapor intrusion over a long period of exposure. To fund the cleanup of the soil, the Washingtons in 2003 applied for and received an EPA Brownfields Cleanup grant of $200,000, becoming the first and only performing arts organization to receive an EPA brownfields grant. It was at a New Grantee Workshop in 2003 that TAB was introduced to the Washingtons by the EPA Region 9 Brownfields team.

TAB met with Erwin Washington several weeks later to discuss his grant and provide information on appropriate cleanup technologies. At that time, TAB agreed to assist with community outreach activities but it wasn't until April of 2006 that this final phase of the cleanup got fully underway. TAB was then asked to create a fact sheet and the first drafts of a press release, and, along with the EPA, to make a short presentation before the local Community Advisory Committee meeting prior to the beginning of cleanup activities.

Cleanup activities began in July with a pilot test of the selected remedial alternative. After the remediation system is installed later this month, the petroleum will be removed from the soil in-situ by soil vapor extraction and the collected vapors destroyed initially by catalytic oxidation and later, when concentrations decrease, by absorption onto activated carbon. The system is expected to run for approximately one year.

For more information about this project, contact Jerry Orlando at jerry.orlando@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-5861.

Copyright © 2002-2006 Oregon State University
Western Region TOSC/TAB News
Technical Outreach Services for Communities (TOSC)
Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities (TAB)
Western Region Hazardous Substance Research Center
Oregon State University - Web Disclaimer