United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-130
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
<&EPA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Riverdale, South Chicago Heights, Chicago Heights, and Dolton/Lansing, IL
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 Village of Riverdale for a
Brownfields Pilot. Riverdale is partnering with the
South Suburban Chicago Brownfields Coalition
(SSCBC), which consists of cooperative partners
including the Village of South Chicago Heights, City
of Chicago Heights, Village of Dolton, the Village of
Lansing, and the South Suburban Mayors and
Managers Association, a consortium of mayors and
city managers from 38 municipalities in the south
suburban Chicago. These communities are located
in one of the nation's key industrial strongholds. The
drastic loss of industry in this region, peaking in the
1970s and early 1980s, has created pockets of
economically distressed communities and thousands
of acres of brownfields properties. In some
communities of the south suburbs the unemployment
rate is as high as 20 percent, while the percentage of
minority populations reaches more than 99 percent.
One municipality represented by the consortium, the
Ford Heights community, qualifies as America's
poorest suburb, with a poverty rate of 49 percent.
Although the number of industries, as well as
residents, has decreased, the region is poised for
redevelopment and economic renewal with its
excellent freight transportation infrastructure and
remaining industrial clusters.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Announcement:
May2000
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Riverdale Pilot will
target brownfields sites in the south
suburban Chicago region for
assessment and cleanup.
Riverdale, IL
Contacts:
Riverdale
(708)841-2200
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/
Forfurther information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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OBJECTIVES
The Pilot's primary objectives are to create an
inventory of area brownfields properties, prioritize
and target properties for assessment and cleanup;
perform environmental assessments at targeted sites,
establish a web site to inform communities and other
interested parties of brownfields sites, and conduct
community outreach and solicit community
involvement. The award of EPA funding will leverage
additional city, state, and federal funds for brownfields
assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment activities.
These Pilot activities will also contribute to SSCBC's
long-term goals, which include building a regional
partnership around brownfields redevelopment
among south suburban municipalities to achieve
collective results, using the south suburban region's
existing assets as building blocks for brownfields
revitalization and economic renewal, and producing
a model for brownfields identification, assessment,
cleanup and redevelopment that provides a
framework for future projects.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Compiling a comprehensive inventory, including
geographic information system (GIS) mapping and
site profiles, of south suburban brownfields
properties;
• Prioritizing and targeting brownfields properties for
assessment and cleanup;
• Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental
assessments at targeted brownfields properties;
and
• Involving community representatives, especially
those in environmental justice communities, in
decision-making processes regarding brownfields
assessment and cleanup.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Riverdale, IL
May 2000 EPA500-F-00-130
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