The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (Iowa DNR) has awarded the City of Waterloo a $20,260 grant to complete additional asbestos containing materials (ACM) survey work at the Former Rath Packing Plant located at 1442 Sycamore Street. The investigation is critical to advancing planned ACM abatement activities scheduled to occur at the facility in 2025…. Read more »

The City’s brownfield selection committee has chosen Eocene Environmental Group, Inc. to oversee implementation of its EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant.  These funds will cover costs associated with developing bid specifications and asbestos abatement activities at the seven-story former Rath Packing plant.  The looming brownfields facility represents a symbol of the economic devastation that dramatically impacted the community… Read more »

Local media provided coverage of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) $1 million Brownfields Multipurpose Grant check presentation ceremony at Waterloo City Hall on June 28, 2024. Attendees included representatives from EPA Region 7 and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The grant’s project period begins on October 1, 2024 and ends on September… Read more »

Black Hawk-Grundy County Mental Health Center has proposed the construction of a $7.4 million mental health housing facility at the former Alstadt Langlas Bakery located at 54 Lane Street. The project would feature 24 efficiency apartments for single occupancy designed to help individuals that are chronically homeless, in and out of correctional facilities, and have… Read more »

Iowa Public Radio (IPR) featured Waterloo’s newest brownfields project in a recent story (https://www.iowapublicradio.org/ipr-news/2023-11-01/youth-sports-complex-proposed-for-waterloo-brownfield-site). The City is partnering with Waterloo Development Corporation (WDC) to construct a $32 million youth sports facility on a portion of the John Deere campus on Westfield Avenue. The lot has been vacant for nearly 20 years following demolition of several… Read more »

DETROIT, MI – This month the City of Waterloo received a Phoenix Award at the National Brownfields Conference in Detroit, Michigan. The honor recognizes the Jefferson Street Corridor for extraordinary brownfield redevelopment. A brownfield is a former industrial or commercial site where future use is affected by real or perceived environmental contamination. The City’s project… Read more »