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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