East Side Family Clinic

Location: 895 E. 7th St., Saint Paul
Nominated by: Saint Paul Port Authority

Located in the Port Authority’s Beacon Bluff Business Center at the site of the former 3M Co. global headquarters and manufacturing facility, this site was unused for about seven years before the four acres were sold to West Side Community Health Services. The purpose was to construct the 34,000 square foot community health center in an area that had been federally designated as a medically underserved community in great need of an accessible and comprehensive health service.

The property was listed on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s RCRA—Large Quantity Generator, Leaking Underground Storage Tanks, and MN Spill Incidents databases. The cleanup required significant soil remediation. 364 cubic yards of soil was contaminated with benzoic-a-pyrene equivalents (BaPs), along with low concentrations of petroleum compounds consisting of diesel range organics (DRO) at varying points on the property. Fill soil with building materials, concrete, and brick was also present at various areas on the property. Groundwater data indicated minimal impacts of GRO and VOCs , as well as soil vapor concentrations greater than Intrusion Screening Values. Also uncovered were a 1,000-gallon underground fuel oil storage tank with 153 cubic yards of petroleum contaminated soil, and a 16-inch diameter buried gas line wrapped in asbestos-containing material.

The East Side Family Clinic was successfully remediated and redeveloped into a community health center in an area desperately in need. The site employs 50 medical and clerical staff offering services to the almost 29,000 East Side residents with incomes at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, many of whom are uninsured or using Medicaid. The patients are around 50% uninsured and 50% English language learners. The site has 24 exam rooms, 5 behavioral therapy consultation rooms, 2 advanced medical procedure rooms, a medical lab, X-ray facilities, a large pharmacy, and a 20-station dental facility.

Project Financing

• U.S EPA Revolving Loan Fund
• MN DEED Contamination Clean Grant
• Ramsey Country Environmental Response Fund Grant
• Taxable and Tax Exempt General Obligation Bonds

Project Partners

• Miller Dunwiddie Architects
• BWBR Architects
• Loucks Associates
• American Engineering Testing
• Faithful & Gould
• Nicollet Partners
• Building Consulting Group
• 106 Group
• St. Paul Parks and Recreation
• City of St. Paul-Mayor’s Office
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency