United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-095
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
\>EPA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Gary, IN
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states,
tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods
to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Gary for a Brownfields
Pilot. Gary was also selected to receive additional
funding for assessments at Brownfields properties to
be used for greenspace purposes. A former industrial
center, Gary contains many abandoned factory and
mill sites. As the steel industry has declined, so has
the city. The workforce in Gary dropped from more
than 20,000 in the 1970s to 6,000 in the 1990s, as the
population decreased by 40 percent. In 1998, the
unemployment rate was 7.1 percent, more than twice
that of the rest of Indiana. The population is 89
percent minority, with approximately 25 percent of
the residents living below the poverty line.
The city successfully partnered with East Chicago
and Hammond, Indiana, for federal Empowerment
Zone designation in 1999. There has been extensive
public involvement on development related issues,
with meetings being held both to solicit input and to
educate community members.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Gary, IN
Date of Announcement:
May 2000
Amount: $200,000
Greenspace: $50,000
Profile: The Pilot will assess
contamination and plan the
redevelopment of numerous
properties around the Gary
Airport, including an abandoned
sand mine site. The city will
develop a plan for resource
conservation and a recreation
area on a portion of the site.
Contacts:
Department of
Environmental Affairs
(219)882-3000
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 5
(312)353-3161
Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields newsand events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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OBJECTIVES
The goal of the Pilot is to work with the city's
partners to identify, assess, and redevelop local
brownfields within a 200-acre area now owned by
the city, in the area around the Gary Airport. The
site is at the center of a proposed light industrial and
commercial complex. The redevelopment process
will create jobs, provide training opportunities for
local residents, and establish safe and productive
industries. The redevelopment process also will
facilitate an infusion of tax revenue to the city,
further improving the quality of life for residents.
The City of Gary will use greenspace funding to
conduct environmental assessments of the southern
portion of an 80-acre former sand mine called the J-
Pit. Potential sources of contamination include
byproducts of illegal dumping and surrounding
junkyards. The proposed restoration plan for the pit
is to fill it with groundwater to form a lake. The banks
of the new lake would be restored through plantings
and construction of wetlands, and a trail would be
constructed around the lake, which would connect to
a new city park adjacent to the site.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as a part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental site
assessments;
• Developing cleanup and redevelopment plans for
identified site reuse;
• Identifying financial and other resources necessary
to fund cleanup scenarios;
• Identifying funding strategies for redevelopment;
• Developing redevelopment plans forthe J-Pitproject
that incorporate natural resource preservation and
enhancement with economic redevelopment; and
• Conducting outreach activities to encourage
community participation.
The cooperative agreementforthis Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subjectto change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Gary, IN
May2000 EPA 500-F-00-095
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