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WATERLOO -- Gary Wilcox wasn't entirely prepared for what he found when returning to tour the Chamberlain Manufacturing site.

The former manager of safety and environmental engineering -- who worked for the company from 1969 to 1991 -- saw collapsed roofs, trees sprouting through concrete alleys and twisted and snarled piping where scrap metal collectors ripped generators or air-conditioning units from their foundations.

Vandals and those stealing from the site left their mark, including holes in security fencing around the orphaned industrial complex that includes 22 buildings along East Fourth Street next to Gates Park.

"It's really a shame, the amount of decay that's taken place," Wilcox said. "But that's what happens when buildings are abandoned for that long, when they sit there with no heat and leaky roofs."

Wilcox isn't alone in his disappointment in what has happened since the defense contractor shuttered the site 13 years ago. Neighboring homeowners have been after the city in recent years to do something about the blight that drives down property values and creates an uneasy feeling about their safety.

"Chamberlain has become an eyesore and it's pretty bad for the neighborhood," said Bob Robinson, who can see the plant from his home a few blocks away. "If it stays too long like it is, the way kids are these days, I'm afraid somebody will get hurt."

Robinson and his neighbors could see some progress soon.

City Council members are expected to open bids Dec. 10 on the first phase of a project to tear down Chamberlain's buildings. Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working with Chamberlain Manufacturing to investigate, clean up and contain hazardous chemical contaminants found underground.

Wringers and missiles

The state of affairs is a far cry from Chamberlain's heyday during the Vietnam War when more than 800 workers earned a living manufacturing bombs for the United States' war machine.

Andrew Chamberlain started Waterloo Rope Belt in 1906. The company rebuilt cream separators and processed repair parts. It became Chamberlain in 1929 and grew to one of the world's leading manufacturers of metal washer wringers. The firm later manufactured aluminum awnings, refrigerator shelves and projectile metal parts.

Duchossois Industries of Elmhurst, Ill., purchased Chamberlain in 1978 but continued work as a major contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Courier files show the company had about 550 employees in its manufacturing and research and development divisions in 1990 when workers designed and built warheads for the Patriot missile. The weapon was made famous as Gen. Colin Powell showed off its pinpoint accuracy at news conferences during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Declining defense contracts led Chamberlain eventually to shut down in August 1994.

The company and local economic development officials tried to sell the plant -- which included 500,000 square feet of buildings on more than 22 acres -- to another manufacturer without success. The property was much larger than most firms desired and lingering concerns existed about environmental problems.

Atlas Warehousing bought the property in February 1996 and began using some of the buildings for storage.

As pressure mounted on the city to clean up the Chamberlain site, the EPA awarded the city $350,000 in grants to begin searching for contaminants with Atlas Warehousing's consent. The city accepted title to the land in 2005, at no cost, after discussing the issue with neighborhood residents at several meetings.

"Chamberlain spent a lot of money to get that facility to a condition where it could be reused," Wilcox said. "We were going to use that site as an industrial park … but then rumors started about contamination and killed the deal."

Chemical hazards

Investigations conducted by Howard R. Green Co. confirmed contamination was more than just rumor.

The Phase II environmental assessment completed in January 2005 found "widespread groundwater contamination from chlorinated solvents and localized groundwater contamination from total extractable hydrocarbons."

While no radioactive contaminants were discovered -- as some suspected -- consultants found potential underground storage tanks and buried drums. Lead and heavy metals were found in sediments flowing from the site.

"Our goal is to clean this up as soon as possible and prepare it for its beneficial reuse," said Stephanie Doolan, the EPA employee assigned to the project. "It's difficult right now to predict how long that's going to take."

Doolan said the environmental assessment is a partnership between the EPA, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the city and Chamberlain Manufacturing, which has engaged some of its own consultants.

"We asked Chamberlain if they'd be willing to participate in further investigation and in the cleanup … and they agreed to do that," Doolan said. "Over the past year (we've) been working with them to finish the investigation. That's almost done."

Once the final report is complete, the EPA will prepare a human health and ecological risk assessment.

"The point of the risk assessment is to identify where there's unacceptable levels of contamination that could be harmful to humans or the environment," Doolan said. "That also considers the current condition of the property and possible future uses."

Essentially, the risk assessment will determine what needs to be done now to prevent the site from being dangerous to the surrounding area, and what cleanup alternatives are required based on proposed future uses, such as a public park or continued light industrial use. Once the cleanup plan is in place, the public will have 45 days to comment on the proposal before it's adopted.

"There will be some cleanup that will need to be done on the site," Doolan said.

Demolition

Wilcox believes Chamberlain is probably not much different than many of the older industrial sites in the city.

"A lot of the disposal practices that were normal pre-World War II … those come back to haunt you," he said, noting one of the main contaminants found on the property wasn't still being used when he started working at Chamberlain in 1969.

Wilcox said a more immediate danger may be in the buildings themselves, which could be full of cancer-causing asbestos.

"The real risk is that if somebody torches it like they did over at the Construction Machinery site, all that stuff goes into the air," he said. "I wouldn't want to live next to it if that thing catches fire."

Community Planning and Development Director Don Temeyer is also anxious to begin knocking down the Chamberlain site, which is the city's primary role in the cleanup effort.

"When we took possession, we took the buildings," Temeyer said. "We're not responsible for the contamination."

The city has $400,000 earmarked to start razing buildings, which includes a $150,000 state brownfields grant and $250,000 in city funds. More grants are being sought to complete the demolition, which likely will top $1 million.

"It's not astronomical because it's not a multi-level building," Temeyer said. "But once it collapses it could cost a lot more because then we might have to treat it all as hazardous waste."

While the long-range plans include demolishing the entire Chamberlain site, some of the smaller metal buildings could be sold and moved to another location.

"As an interim, we'd like somebody to use it for temporary storage," Temeyer added. "But whatever we do we can't add to the contamination."

What next

City Councilman John Kincaid has heard plenty about the Chamberlain site during his five years representing Ward 4, where the plant is situated.

"It comes up all the time at neighborhood association meetings, that something needs to be done," he said. "It's one of those dinosaurs that we have in the city. It's time to put it to sleep and redevelop it."

City planners have already started holding periodic public meetings with residents, discussing what the Chamberlain site could be in the future.

"It's something I would have liked to follow through on if I was still on the council," said Kincaid, who will leave office in December after being defeated in city elections earlier this month. "I think it's kind of hard to put another business in there, but I'd like to see it be an area for a flea market."

Mayor Tim Hurley said the results of the EPA investigation also will dictate what happens on the Chamberlain site.

"If there's contamination underground I don't think you're going to put homes there," he said. Although the property, which is served by rail, could be used for light industrial purposes.

But some residents have suggested absorbing the land into surrounding Gates Park.

"I would like to see it turned into a green area," said Jesse Loveless, who lives nearby. "I know there was some talk about moving the Gates Park recreational basketball courts up to that area, which might be a good idea."

Bob Robinson will just be pleased to see the current situation cleared up.

"Whatever is done there, I don't have any objections," he said. "It will be what it looks like now."

Hurley said he has no reservations about the city's decision to take on the Chamberlain project.

"If we hadn't taken over we wouldn't have the information and knowledge we have today about the property; we wouldn't know the size of the elephant," he said. "The bottom line is this is an opportunity to take an eyesore and turn it into something positive."

Contact Tim Jamison at (319) 291-1577 or tim.jamison@wcfcourier.com.