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Brownfields
1998 Assessment
Pilot
Fact Sheet
Canton, IL
EPA Brownfields Initiative
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: Jul 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will target a 33-acre industrial site for assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment. The targeted area is located in both an EZ and a TIF district.
Background
EPA has selected the City of Canton for a Brownfields Pilot. Canton (population 13,922) has targeted a vacant 33-acre industrial property at the heart of its central business district. This location has been an industrial/manufacturing site since 1847, occupied primarily by International Harvester (IH). Known prior uses of the property over its 150-year history include a steel plow manufacturing plant, a tire recycling site, a storage area, and a dumping ground for junk and possible hazardous wastes.
International Harvester, once a vibrant business and major employer in the City, operated on the property for nearly 65 years before closing in 1983. Over the years, businesses operating on this site have had little regard for the property's environmental conditions and the potential health hazards to residents of surrounding communities. When IH vacated the property, it left unknown contaminants and pollution in its wake and increased the area's unemployment. The City's current unemployment rate is estimated at 7.5%, with 12.5% of the population living in poverty. In its 14 years of vacancy, the property has suffered from fires and other mishaps. The site lies within an Enterprise Zone (EZ) and a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district.
Objectives
The Pilot will assess the targeted site for types, levels, and location of contaminants, and will develop both short- and long-term redevelopment plans. The City hopes to bring at least 10 acres of the property into a usable condition within two years. Upon completion of the Pilot, Canton plans to conduct a workshop outlining the applicability of the brownfields program to other small, rural communities.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
- Conducting Phase I site assessments, Phase II investigations of suspected hot spots, and a site screening baseline assessment; and
- Identifying locations within the site that are severely economically impaired for redevelopment and those that can be redeveloped within a shorter timeframe.
Contacts
For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Team
(312) 886-7576
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields)
Grant Recipient: City of Canton, Illinois
(309) 647-5022
The information presented in this fact sheet comes from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. The cooperative agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated. Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields
1998
Supplemental
Assessment
Pilot
Fact Sheet
City of Canton, IL
EPA Brownfields Initiative
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: Apr 2001
Amount: $150,000
$50,000 for Greenspace
Profile: City of Canton, IL. The Pilot targets a 6-acre and a 10-acre portion of the former International Harvester site in downtown Canton for assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment as commercial/retail space and public open space.
Background
EPA has selected the City of Canton to receive supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot and additional funding for assessments at Brownfields properties to be used for greenspace purposes. Canton (population approximately 14,000) has targeted a vacant 33-acre industrial property at the heart of its central business district for cleanup and redevelopment. This location has been an industrial/manufacturing site since 1847 and lies within an enterprise zone (EZ) and a tax increment financing (TIF) district. International Harvester (IH), once a vibrant business and major employer in the city, operated on the property for nearly 65 years before closing in 1984. Subsequent uses of the property have included a steel plow manufacturing plant, a tire recycling site, a storage area, and a dumping ground for junk and possible hazardous wastes. These uses have left unknown contaminants in their wake. Further, when IH vacated the property the area lost 3,000 jobs. Using EPA Brownfields Demonstration Assessment Pilot funds, the city performed Phase I and some Phase II assessments on the property and completed a land reuse plan. Additionally, an Illinois EPA (IEPA) Brownfields Redevelopment Grant helped fund the assessment work and a removal action was conducted by the U.S. EPA Emergency Response Branch.
Objectives
The City of Canton plans to use supplemental funds to promote cleanup and redevelopment of the IH site in the city's urban center, which will also help the region's efforts to conserve and protect the nearby Illinois River. The Pilot plans to complete Phase II environmental assessment work and cleanup planning on a six-acre portion of the IH site in order to obtain a No Further Remediation Letter from the Illinois Site Remediation Program. The city anticipates that the site will be developed as a commercial/retail property-an extension of the Downtown Retail District that will stimulate economic activity and opportunities for redevelopment by connecting the downtown with new development on the IH site. The city also expects that the additional money generated from the expanded tax base will help fund assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of the remaining portions of the IH property.
The Pilot has also been selected by EPA to receive funding for greenspace activities. The city will use greenspace funding for Phase II environmental assessment work and cleanup planning on a 10-acre section of the IH site, which is slated to become a public open space in the land reuse plan.
The Pilot plans to:
- Conduct additional soil and groundwater testing on the six-acre site in the northwest corner of the IH site to further characterize contamination;
- Prepare a site investigation report as required by IEPA;
- Conduct activities in compliance with the state's Voluntary Cleanup Program, delineating the boundaries of and re-platting the northwest corner site, developing appropriate cleanup plans, and refining the property's end use;
- Continue with Pilot community outreach activities, including quarterly meetings with the Canton Brownfields Redevelopment Advisory Council, creation of project fact sheets, and community meetings; and
- Conduct a Phase II environmental assessment on a 10-acre portion of the IH site and pursue a No Further Remediation Letter from the IEPA.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Contacts
For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Team
(312) 886-7576
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields)
Grant Recipient: City of Canton, Illinois
(309) 647-1753
The information presented in this fact sheet comes from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. The cooperative agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated. Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.