Brownfields
Contaminated sites
You can search for contaminated sites that are or have been addressed by MPCA’s cleanup programs.
Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or underused industrial and commercial properties where financing expansion or redevelopment is complicated by actual or suspected environmental contamination.
By investigating and cleaning up brownfield sites, many of which are blighted properties in inner-city areas, redevelopment can take place without fear of risk to human health or potential environmental liabilities. This benefits Minnesota communities by reducing urban sprawl, enhancing the livability of neighborhoods, and creating new businesses, jobs, and an improved tax base.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) Brownfield Program was created to help enable the sale and redevelopment of brownfield sites.
Brownfield Program services
The MPCA Brownfield Program is a fee-for-service program that provides technical assistance and issuance of various liability assurance letters to promote the investigation, cleanup, and redevelopment of property that is contaminated with petroleum and/or hazardous substances. Customers include property owners, prospective purchasers, developers, development agencies, lending institutions, non-profit organizations, and local units of government.
Brownfield Program Services (c-brwnfld4-01) — This document provides a general overview of available services.
To apply for help
Complete and submit the Program Application form.
Voluntary Remediation Programs Enrollment Application Form (PDF Version) (c-vic3-01)
Submit a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (Phase I ESA) with the application, unless desired services are limited to a VIC Lender Letter or certain petroleum-related services, such as expedited review of a petroleum tank release site, Tank Removal Verification Letter, and/or General Liability Letter. The Phase I ESA must be prepared in accordance with the All Appropriate Inquiry (AAI) standard as per 40 C.F.R. Part 312 and must be no older than one year. In some cases, with MPCA staff concurrence, an older Phase I ESA can be submitted with a Phase I ESA update.
Most applicants are voluntary parties wishing to address potential environmental issues at a site to facilitate a redevelopment project or property transfer. Some applicants are legally responsible under Minnesota’s Environmental Response and Liability Act (Minn. Stat. § 115B) for hazardous substance contamination on the property.
Complete a Cooperative Cleanup Memorandum if you are a responsible party and wish to cooperate with the MPCA to address the environmental contamination. See Section D of the application for more detail.
Cooperative Cleanup Memorandum Agreement (PDF Version) (c-rem4-42)
Toolbox for those new to brownfield redevelopment
Minnesota Brownfields Toolbox (c-brwnfld1-04)
This toolbox explains the process of cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated sites in straightforward terms, and provides rural and smaller city governments/entities/communities with a systematic, start-to-finish, guide to cleanup and redevelopment. The toolbox identifies five steps in the brownfield redevelopment process.
Information about brownfield sites
Search for contaminated sites
To search for contaminated sites that are or have been addressed by MPCA's cleanup programs, go to Contaminated sites.
Request specific information from brownfield project files
To request information about a specific brownfield project, you will need the MPCA project number, name, or street address. You can find this information by looking in “What’s in My Neighborhood” and/ or the other data searches above. Keep in mind that it’s common for a property to be enrolled in more than one MPCA program, and that a property may have been enrolled in the Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup Program and/or the Petroleum Brownfields Program multiple times under different project numbers and names.
To arrange for a file review or to request copies of a document, contact one of the following file managers:
Dianne Mitzuk, 651-757-2573
Kara Good, 651-757-2394
Lupe Verduzco, 651-757-2799
Response actions
- Response Actions Completed in CY 2012 (c-vic2-08)
- Response Actions Tentatively Scheduled for CY2013 (based upon Response Action Plan Approval Letters issued in 2012) (c-vic2-09)
- VIC Sites with Institutional Controls Completed by CY including CY2012 (c-vic2-10)