TCAAP Land Transfer Finalized

On February 4, crowds of people descended on Minneapolis, Minnesota to watch the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles battle it out during Super Bowl LII.

While Minneapolis is a thousand miles from both team’s home cities, the stadium sits just 15 miles from an innovative disposal project executed by the US General Services Administration (GSA) at the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP).

TCAAP was established during World War II to produce ammunition for the war. The arsenal remained in service from 1942 to 1976, where it went into standby status until 2002, when it was declared excess. While the bid to make the TCAAP home to the new football stadium failed, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners approved the redevelopment of the 427-acre parcel and in 2013 GSA and Ramsey County negotiated a sale for $28 million.

Because the property was considered a Superfund Site, a key condition of the sale was that the county must agree to undertake, on behalf of the Army, all necessary activities to remediate the soil. The Army retained responsibility for the groundwater pump and treat system and GSA leased the remaining 30 acres to the county, who completed the soil cleanup on those acres in 2016.

During this time, however, the Army’s pump and treat system detected an emerging contaminant in the aquifers and with no remedy in place at the time; the only option for conveyance was early transfer. After months of extensive work by GSA, the Army and the county, an amended deed was drafted and in December the county paid GSA the remaining $1.9 million. In return, the county received that deed for the 30 acres.

“The innovative transaction at the former Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant is another example of GSA’s efforts to provide a disposal strategy for federal real property that is no longer needed in the federal inventory,” said Acting Regional Administrator and Public Buildings Service (PBS) Regional Commissioner for the New England Region Glenn Rotondo. “By conveying a portion of the TCAAP site to Ramsey County, GSA will reduce our federal footprint, create savings for the government and deliver an economic catalyst for development opportunities in and around the local community."