EPA grant to aid city in cleanup

Determining what properties in the capital city's core are contaminated and in need of clean-up will be possible with a $300,000 grant for the city of Topeka, officials from local, state and federal agencies announced on Thursday.

"When we talk about environmental protection, this is actually the environmental revitalization of what we do at the agency," said Cathy Stepp, principle deputy regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency and Trump Administration appointee. "It's our chance to come in with a white hat and to be talking about the future and how can we fix what happened in the past and turn it around into incredible opportunities for the future."

Stepp said Thursday was the first time she had ever been to Topeka. She said she was appointed to her regional EPA position two months ago, previously serving as the secretary of Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources under Gov. Scott Walker.

Along with Stepp, Topeka Mayor Larry Wolgast, interim city manager Doug Gerber and other city and Kansas Department of Health Environment officials announced the federal Brownfields grant at the NOTO Arts Center. The grant will fund the research of potential properties, which is expected to begin soon with "input meetings" to begin early next year. The money won't be used for clean-up but the city can apply for additional funding to pay for that if necessary, according to city officials.

Interim city manager Doug Gerber said the grant is "not necessarily" part of the proposed development of property near the Kansas River by the Topeka-Shawnee County Riverfront Authority, a private-public partnership. However, a news release issued later Thursday said the "city will use the grant funding to expand redevelopment in the North Topeka Riverfront Area."

"Nothing will be formally decided before community input," Gerber said, adding that there will be "multiple processes" for gathering public input on what properties will be assessed "to determine the extent of site contamination, remove environmental uncertainties, and clean up contaminated properties where needed," according to the city's news release.

Gerber said the 3-square-mile area that will be assessed is 1 mile north of the Kansas Statehouse and riverfront industrial properties close to the Kansas River and neighborhoods to the north of Interstate 70, including the North Topeka East and West neighborhoods.

"Obviously, this area has been the focus of intense redevelopment and there is certainly more to come," he said. "Any sort of specific site or sites will be selected through a rigorous community-engagement process. As you know, that's something we like to do in Topeka, something we're good at and something we should be good at, engaging our citizens and trying to figure out what makes sense to them and collaboration with our interests."

Wolgast said getting the Brownfields grant was accomplished through "extreme collaborative support" from several public and private entities.

"We were very successful in that, and typically we learn that's the way things get done," he said. "We're proud of that, that we have so many organizations that support, work together and help us find this."

In addition to the Topeka-Shawnee County Riverfront Authority, Wolgast said the organizations involved in the pursuit of the Brownfields grant were GO Topeka, U.S. Department of the Interior-National Parks Service, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Shawnee County Health Department, Joint Economic Development Organization, Topeka Workforce Center, Topeka Rescue Mission, Great Overland Station, Visit Topeka Inc., Heartland Visioning, NOTO Arts District, North Topeka East and North Topeka West neighborhood improvement associations and Shawnee County Parks and Recreation.

Contact reporter Angela Deines at (785) 295-1143 or @AngelaDeines on Twitter.

Credit: By Angela Deines angela.deines@cjonline.com