Initial Brownfields Pilot Project (1996-2000)

In 1996, the Stockton Redevelopment Agency (Agency) was awarded a $200,000 Brownfields Redevelopment Grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The EPA funding was designated to initiate pilot programs in urban areas across the nation that were faced with possible environmental hazards that reduce their economic, public health, and social well-being. 

These brownfields grants allow cities to investigate the feasibility of implementing revitalization programs for deteriorating target areas or neighborhoods that have actual or perceived environmental contamination.  The main goal of this grant was to focus on efforts to revitalize properties that the Agency currently owned or was planning on acquiring in the area of Stockton's downtown waterfront.  In early spring of 1997, the Agency began fieldwork on the Stockton Brownfields Pilot Program. The photo and map below show the Initial sixteen properties that were identified as being located on or near the shoreline of the Stockton Deep Water Channel. A multifaceted project was prepared in response to the award of the grant by EPA. The Environmental Master Plan (EMP) summarizes all of the documents produced during the project and attempts to present the results in a manner more easily understood by developers, lenders, and the public at large. Additionally, it was the goal of the Agency to reestablish the Waterfront Area as the center of the community, in part, by creating the Waterfront Revival Task Force in 1997. This successful group made up of residents, community agencies, the private sector, and public entities in a coordinated public outreach document entitled Plan for Stakeholder Involvement. This group was renamed the Waterfront Committee in 2000. In 2004, it merged with the Downtown Action Team.

Primary Accomplishments

The results of the brownfields pilot program have contributed significantly to the current wave of redevelopment activities currently taking place in Stockton’s downtown waterfront. Most importantly, private reinvestment is occurring at an escalating rate.

The various programs undertaken and completed under Stockton’s Initial Brownfields Pilot Program are the Phase I Site Assessment for North Shore Properties, Plan for Stakeholder Involvement, Data Gap Analysis Report, Phase II Site Assessment for Weber Block, Risk Management Plan, and Environmental Master Plan. All of these documents can be reviewed at the Redevelopment Department.

The results of this brownfields program are twofold. First, redevelopment efforts have been accelerated, and secondly, the solid foundation of brownfields information in the form of assessments and plans has been completed. This data will provide the building blocks to complete a comprehensive brownfields program under the second phase, called the Supplemental Brownfields Pilot Program.

Supplemental Brownfields Pilot Project (2001-2005)

A supplemental grant was issued to the Agency by the EPA in 2001. The purpose of the supplemental grant was to continue the work that had begun in the Pilot Project. The documents developed in the Supplemental Pilot Project, as described below, can be reviewed at the City of Stockton Redevelopment Department.

Primary Accomplishments:

A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) was performed for four additional blocks, specifically, Areas 18, 19, 22 and 23 as shown on the map along Fremont Street.

A Phase II Environmental Site Assessment was planned for three properties including Area 13 and 14 (both privately owned), and Area 17 (owned by the Agency) (See map for locations). No environmental investigations had been previously completed on Areas 13 and 17, and limited information was available for Area 14. An approved Sampling and Analysis Plan and Site Safety Plan were prepared to support the Phase II ESA. Unfortunately, the sampling effort could not be carried out due to lack of site access on the privately-owned properties.

The Risk Management Plan (RMP), which was developed under the initial pilot project, was refined and expanded to include more properties than in the original grant, for a total RMP area of 28 properties/areas(see the map below). . The goal of the RMP was to facilitate redevelopment of properties within the Waterfront area by providing information on the process involved in the development of contaminated properties to ensure compliance with the applicable requirements of the regulatory agencies that have authority over various environmental issues in Stockton. The RMP includes protocols for site investigations, site screening, remedy selection for managing any possible contamination, possible risk management measures that can be implemented during and following development, and guidance for coordination with regulatory agencies. The document was prepared with input of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (CVRWQCB), California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), and EPA staff. Final approval from the state agencies on the document is expected soon.

A Background Groundwater Quality Study of groundwater monitoring wells on the North and South shores was completed in consultation with DTSC and the CVRWQCB. The background groundwater quality study was completed to support development of the RMP.

Information in the Environmental Master Plan that was developed under the initial pilot project was incorporated into the Report of Known Environmental Conditions (formerly called the Data Gap Analysis Report in the initial pilot project) and the revised RMP. (The EMP was therefore not further updated under the supplemental project.) The Report of Known Environmental Conditions was also updated to include new information that was identified during the initial and supplemental pilot projects and other projects in the waterfront area (e.g., Stockton Events Center); this update was funded both with EPA grant and Agency funds.

Map of the Brownfields Grant Areas around the Stockton Channel
Summary descriptions of information for individual parcels may be accessed by clicking on individual properties on the map below.

(Click image to enlarge)

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