{"id":1150,"date":"2013-04-09T14:05:13","date_gmt":"2013-04-09T21:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spiken.wpengine.com\/news\/kent-plans-public-meeting-about-contaminated-sites-april-23\/"},"modified":"2013-04-09T14:05:13","modified_gmt":"2013-04-09T21:05:13","slug":"kent-plans-public-meeting-about-contaminated-sites-april-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/news\/kent-plans-public-meeting-about-contaminated-sites-april-23\/","title":{"rendered":"Kent plans public meeting about contaminated sites April 23"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kent\u2019s Community and Economic Development Department will host an informational event Tuesday, April 23 for residents to learn about the city\u2019s efforts to clean up contaminated land sites for reuse and revitalization.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Residents are encouraged to attend to learn how they can become actively involved in the prioritization of reuse\/revitalization opportunities in the city and specific neighborhoods, according to a city media release.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The free event is from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall, 220 Fourth Ave. S.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

A reuse\/revitalization opportunity site is defined broadly by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as \u201cabandoned, idled or under-used property, where the expansion or redevelopment may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant,\u201d according to Josh Hall, city economic development specialist.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal of the program is to turn these sites from community blight to community benefit, restoring them to safe, viable properties that contribute to the economic well-being of the city,\u201d Hall said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Last year, the EPA awarded the city two community-wide assessment grants <\/a>to provide up to $400,000 to support the reuse and revitalization of properties within the city.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In conjunction with the EPA grants, the city is soliciting the support and involvement of community-based organizations and the general public in the development of a sustainable Site Reuse and Revitalization Program.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

As an example of a former contaminated site, Borden Chemical operated a plant from 1956 to 2001 on First Avenue where the Kent Station shopping mall now stands. The state Department of Ecology (DOE) listed Borden as one of the worst hazardous waste sites. Clean up efforts put the property back on the market. The shopping mall opened in 2005.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Typical properties eligible for this funding include:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2022 Former gas stations<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2022 Former dry cleaners<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2022 Former automotive repair shops<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2022 Old dumps or landfills<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2022 Any buildings with asbestos\/lead-based paint<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2022 Old manufacturing plants<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2022 Methamphetamine labs<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2022 Former industrial sites<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2022 Former paper products manufacturing<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2022 Old foundry companies<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2022 Former battery manufacturing or recycling facilities<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2022 Old salvage yards<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kent\u2019s Community and Economic Development Department will host an informational event Tuesday, April 23 for residents to learn about the city\u2019s efforts to clean up contaminated land sites for reuse and revitalization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":212,"featured_media":1151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-1150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/212"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1150"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}