DPRA staff in St. Paul played an important role in helping prepare for construction of a new open air stadium for Major League Baseball’s Minnesota Twins. Working under the direction of Andrew Leith, Hennepin County Department of Environmental Services, DPRA completed a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) on the 32-acre proposed site of the Twins ballpark and rail interface area in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The purpose of the ESA was to identify potential environmental liabilities prior to purchase and redevelopment of the stadium site by HennepinCounty.
 
In the course of conducting the Phase I ESA, DPRA found the majority of the proposed stadium site to be covered by a blacktop-paved surface parking lot with other uses such as a vehicle maintenance garage, railroad tracks, and a sand volleyball complex. Historical documents revealed the site was first developed prior to 1885 for use as a railroad yard with associated tracks, maintenance operations, pesticide and herbicide application, and coal and petroleum storage. In addition, numerous warehouses, freight houses, automobile service buildings, and a lumber yard occupied the site at one time. Historical records confirmed soil contamination exists in isolated areas as a result of these uses and activities. Test pits and soil borings encountered fill material containing wood, slag, concrete, brick, glass, ceramics, coal, pavers, bricks, metal, and railroad ties near the ground surface. 
 
The Twins ballpark, scheduled to open April 2010, will be similar in size to PNC Park in Pittsburgh or Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati with around 40,000 seats. Twins officials and representatives of Hennepin County are working out design elements that will help the ballpark blend into and complement downtown Minneapolis. The Minnesota Twins indicate the new facility will be similar to Fenway Park in Boston or Wrigley Field in Chicago in its integration with the surrounding community. The stadium site will offer a convenient connection to the Hiawatha Light Rail transit line in downtown Minneapolis and the proposed 40-mile Northstar commuter rail service from Big Lake.
 
As a result of DPRA’s Phase I ESA findings, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency approved an Environmental Contingency Plan/Development Response Action Plan for the stadium site that defines what remedial activities will occur if contaminated soil is discovered during redevelopment. Stadium construction is scheduled to begin with clearing of the land in March 2007.