West end properties focus of environmental cleanup

A small army of government officials, college professors, students and local officials from as far away as Manhattan, Kansas, near Topeka, are focusing talents and expertise on a patch of Tucumcari's west end that includes the city's old Shell Truck Stop.

The area, which also includes two abandoned motels, will be the subject of expert advice on cleaning up environmental hazards, then developing the property through a program called Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB), sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

A "brownfield" is an area that has some environmental problems, like ground contamination from underground fuel leaks at the truck stop or asbestos at an old building site, according to TAB literature.

With help from the Eastern Plains Council of Governments (EPCOG), Patrick Vanderpool, executive director of the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation, applied for technical assistance through TAB last summer.

Sandy Chancey, EPCOG's director, and Vanderpool decided to apply for TAB assistance after attending a state conference on brownfields that the Tucumcari Convention Center hosted in August, Vanderpool said.

The EPA accepted the application.

"We saw potential in this area for this area an up-and-coming tourist town, with its Route 66 attractions," Karen Peyck, the EPA's coordinator for the Tucumcari project said, "and awarded the request for assistance."

Peyck described her role in Tucumcari's project as "cheerleader, supporter and participant" in the process of finding and correcting any environmental problems and planning for future use of the property.

The TAB project divides the nation into regions, and for Region 6, which includes New Mexico, the lead agency is Kansas State University, which likes to be called K-State, located in Manhattan, Kan.

"We help folks with free assessments," is how Blase Leven, the university's coordinator for all things brownfield, described K-State's role in the process.

In fact, he said, K-State's long-time with brownfield issues is why the university was chosen as the center for the region's TAB activities.

K-State has helped other New Mexico cities with TAB projects, he said, including Portales, Espanola, Bernalillo and Farmington.

The key to success of a brownfield project, he said, is to plan for future use at the same time arrangements are being made to correct environmental problems.

"That makes finding the funds for the project easier," he said.

Oral Saulters, who manages Region 6 TAB projects for K-State, is the direct link between K-State and the Quay County community.

"We're real excited to be part of this project," he said. "Research is already under way and we want to coordinate with local and regional planning."

He said he is also encouraged by the cooperation he is already receiving from the New Mexico Environmental Department, "and more than that," he said, "how well the environment department works with economic development people."

Ultimately, he said, he hopes Tucumcari's truck stop project will inspire more such agreements in other brownfield areas of the county.

"We hope the partnerships we build with public and commercial entities will enhance the overall capacity to bring it all together."

Saulters said that while his background is science and engineering, he has worked extensively in government and policy matters.

Another partner in Tucumcari's truck stop project is the University of New Mexico's Moises Gonzales, an assistant professor in the Community and Regional Planning Program at the School of Architecture and Planning.

Gonzales will put his graduate students to work on the Tucumcari project as a capstone study. Capstone studies are projects that challenge students to apply learning in many areas to solve complex problems.

He said he will guide students through the process of policy analysis, public involvement and consideration of economically and environmentally viable projects and do some "visioning."

Visioning, he said, should unite the interests of Tucumcari, the EPA, and state economic development officials to develop a "strategy for redevelopment," of the brownfield area in west Tucumcari.

That gives the students one semester, from January to May, to complete the process, he said.

Gonzales said he is especially excited about the Tucumcari project, because it is the first such project to occur in eastern New Mexico.

That five-month time period meets expectations of other agencies, as well.

While New Mexico Environmental Department officials are participating in the project, they have concerns about resolving current contamination issues involved with the truck stop site, especially fuel contamination from underground tanks and pipes.

Ali Furmall, manager of the department's remediation oversight section, said the department "is reviewing the results of previous site assessments to determine the appropriate course of action to protect public health and safety."

He added, "The department will seek to work with all parties to facilitate the remediation of this site in order to protect the environment and return the site to beneficial economic use."