Former stockyards dump site ready for development

Jake Spitzack Staff Writer

After a 5-year, $2.76 million environmental cleanup that unearthed and disposed of more than 120,000 tons of contaminated waste, the approximately 6.75-acre site of the former Stockyards dump at 587 Verderosa Ave. has been cleared for development. The South St. Paul city council recently approved Danner Inc.’s plans to build a new facility on the site as long as the company complies with several conditions that aren’t expected to be an issue, such as installing landscaping screening and getting a final plat approval from the city council. The excavation, earthwork and road construction contractor has operated from its 16,700 square-foot facil- ity at 843 Hardman Ave. S. since the late 1980s and has been working with the city to clean up the land at Verderosa Avenue since purchasing it from Dayton Holdings, Inc. in fall 2016.

Danner Inc. is proposing to construct a 17,200 squarefoot building on the site that will include a business office, maintenance garages for commercial vehicles and a significant amount of ex- terior storage for road building material, equipment and vehicles. The site plan also calls for three gasoline fueling islands, one of which will be located outside of a gated area and be open to the public. Danner Inc. will also pay about $63,000 for the construction of a sidewalk or trail along Verderosa Avenue to fill a sidewalk gap that has been identified in the City’s comprehensive plan.

“They [Danner Inc.] have up to two years to move forward with construction, and the project representatives seemed to think that it might take almost that long,” said South St. Paul Planning Manager Michael Healy. “Danner anticipates supply chain delays in securing the tip-up concrete panels they will need for the exterior walls of their building. It could be a little while before we see a building go up.”

Achieving the go-ahead to build on the site is a significant milestone. According to city documents, the property was deemed unsuitable for development in 2016 because the soil was contaminated to a depth of 30 feet with construction and animal waste, and oth- er buried debris associated with the United Stockyards Corporation, which operated there from the 1920s1970s. In 2017 and 2018, Danner Inc. partnered with the South St. Paul Economic Development Authority (EDA) and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to obtain $1.56 million in two rounds of grant funding to clean up the site. Danner Inc. has also invested about $1.2 million of its own money for cleanup, 35% more than the required match for the grant. The site was deemed buildable last May but the final documents to clear it for development weren’t complete until November.

United Stockyards Corporation used the site, originally a wetland, for more than 50 years as a dumping ground for livestock bedding, paunch manure ani- mal carcasses, refuse, and demolition debris, including wood, metal, glass and plastics. Contamination still exists at the property 2-11 feet below the now-finished grade. This is considered acceptable based on the Response Action Plan approved for the site in 2017 by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Constructing a larger building on the site would require additional excavations and MPCA approvals.