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Brownfields
2002 Assessment
Pilot
Fact Sheet
Southwestern Illinois Development Authority, Illinois
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: May 2002
Amount: $200,000
Profile: Southwestern Illinois Development Authority, Illinois. The Pilot targets potentially contaminated brownfields in the Village of Brooklyn, which is a small, economically distressed community with a predominantly minority population.
Background
EPA has selected the Southwestern Illinois Development Authority (SWIDA) for a Brownfields Assessment Pilot. SWIDA, in collaboration with the Village of Brooklyn, has targeted the entire Village of Brooklyn for the Pilot. Brooklyn is a community of 676 people on the Mississippi River, a designated American Heritage River, five miles north of St. Louis. The village is the planned site of a new Mississippi River bridge connecting Missouri with Illinois. Although Brooklyn has never been industrialized, it once was a thriving railroad transportation corridor before the decline of rail transportation led to the abandonment of much of the railroad property in the village. Illegal dumping soon followed on many of the sites. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' initial site characterization of numerous government-owned and railroad-owned properties in Brooklyn raised concerns about real and perceived contamination at these sites and focused attention on Brooklyn's economically deprived community.
Nearly 99 percent of Brooklyn residents are African American. At one time, these residents provided low-wage labor for the railroad and for industries in East St. Louis. The decline of these major employers contributed to the population decline in the village, where unemployment exceeds 27 percent and the per capita income is only $5,350.
Objectives
SWIDA's overall objective is to involve Brooklyn residents in the redevelopment of their brownfields and enhance SWIDA's capabilities to address other brownfields. The planned changes in the transportation infrastructure on the Mississippi River promise to increase commercial activities in the immediate vicinity of Brooklyn. The Pilot will assist the SWIDA by funding environmental assessments and cleanup and reuse plans for several properties.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
- Conducting Phase I environmental assessments on government-owned and railroad-owned sites to determine if they require subsurface investigation;
- Conducting Phase II environmental assessments on high-risk sites chosen during Phase I;
- Designing cleanup plans and reuse options for targeted sites; and
- Fostering community awareness and involvement in the brownfields redevelopment process.
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: Southwestern Illinois Development Authority
(618) 345-3400
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.