United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-266
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA EPA Brownfields
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
LaPorte, 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, and safely clean up
brownfields to promote their sustainable reuse. Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and
commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental
contamination. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years,
with additional funding provided for greenspace) to test assessment models and facilitate coordinated assessment
and cleanup efforts at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels; and 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 program (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years) to provide financial assistance 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 LaPorte for a
Brownfields Assessment Pilot. The city also was
selected to receive additional funding for assessments
at brownfields properties to be used for greenspace
purposes. LaPorte (population 21,515) is 40 minutes
from South Bend and an hour from Chicago in the
center of LaPorte County in northwest Indiana. The
city plans to redevelop five parcels encompassing
more than 100 acres and two abandoned railroad
rights-of-way.
Over the past four years, the city has struggled to
redevelop the targeted properties, which form a
barrier of brownfields that separate formerly cohesive
neighborhoods from the rest of the city and has
lowered the values of nearby homes. The per capita
income of residents in the two neighborhoods
surrounding the redevelopment area is nearly 25
percent lower than that of the city-wide population,
and the median home value is approximately 17
percent lower than home values in the rest of the city.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
LaPorte, Indiana
Date of Announcement:
April 2001
Amount: $200,000
Greenspace: $50,000
Profile: The city seeks to assess five
parcels encompassing more than 100
acres and two abandoned railroad
rights-of-way as partof a plan to return
these properties to active use and help
revitalize two neighborhoods that have
been negatively affected by
brownfields.
Contacts:
City of LaPorte
(219)362-8260
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 5
(312)886-7576
Visit the E PA Region 5 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/
Forfurtherinformation,includingspecific 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
Through this Pilot project, the city plans to complete
subsurface investigations, conduct Phase I and Phase
nenvironmentalsite assessments, andidentify cleanup
design options for these sites. The city also will
conduct public outreach to gain community input
regarding property redevelopment options. LaPorte
anticipates potential redevelopment of the former
landfill and portions of the target parcels as greenspace
for passive recreational use along an existing park
and nearby lake. The greenspace also would serve
as an integral part of a new housing development
near the city's old central business district. Affordable
familyhousing,commercialbusinesses,andimproved
transportation opportunities (including pedestrian
and bicycling trails) are potential end uses for these
properties.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental
site assessments of the five properties;
• Preparinganinitialenvironmentalconditionsreport
based on assessment results to use in further
planningandtoidentifypreliminarycleanup options;
• Organizing neighborhood workshops and
undertaking a city-wide design charrette to draft a
conceptual plan for redevelopment of the project
area;
• Completing afinalredevelopmentplan.
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 LaPorte, Indiana
April 2001 EPA500-F-01-266
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