City staff told the Council Bluffs City Council that two EPA Brownfields grants are nearly closed out and that cleanup work at the former Reliance Battery Factory near Eighth and 22nd Avenue removed contaminated soil and enrolled the site in the state land-recycling program.

The update matters because the properties examined and remediated are in or adjacent to residential neighborhoods and the work affects what redevelopment or housing can occur on those parcels.

Staff said the first grant, an EPA Brownfields assessment grant of $300,000 that began in October 2020, supported preliminary work to identify potential contamination on properties the city or community might redevelop. "We actually have two grants open right now, and this is just really a closeout that we're required to do just to give an update to the community about how we performed," the staff member said. The project produced 11 Phase I environmental site assessments, four Phase II assessments and two site-specific cleanup actions. Staff said the city spent about 95% of that assessment grant and may request a short extension or reprogramming to allow additional testing at the former battery factory site.

On the cleanup grant, staff said the city received $500,000 from the EPA for cleanup work and matched that amount with $100,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. "We actually came in under budget, but we're probably going to have to spend that if we can't get something because there's a little bit more testing that has to happen," the staff member said. The presenter reported that crews excavated what was described in the meeting as 660,000 cubic yards of lead- and arsenic-contaminated soil, plus an additional 1,900 cubic yards that required excavation and backfill; the staff member attributed those figures to the project reporting.

As part of enrolling the site in the land-recycling program, staff said the city collected about 80 samples across the area to establish background arsenic and lead levels in adjacent properties. The presenter said most measurements were consistent with those baselines but that three locations in the public right-of-way and one location on a neighboring property still require clarification. For the neighboring private parcel, staff said the city will need the landowner's permission before conducting additional testing: "If they decide they don't want us to do that testing, we won't."

Staff also listed the required administrative steps completed during the cleanup: an alternatives analysis, quality assurance planning and the action report needed to close the grant. No new council action was requested at the meeting; staff said the cleanup grant is scheduled to close at the end of the month but that the city may seek a short extension if additional testing is authorized by the EPA.

The next steps, as described by staff, are to (1) attempt to secure EPA approval to reprogram remaining assessment funds for additional tests at the former battery site, (2) arrange testing with the private landowner if the owner consents, and (3) submit any required short-extension request to the EPA to finish sampling and close out the grant.