United States
                       Environmental
                       Protection Agency
                       Washington, D.C. 20460
 Solid Waste
 and Emergency
 Response (5105)
 EPA 500-F-01-267
 April 2001
 www.epa.gov/brownfields/
  &EPA        EPA  Brownfields
                      Assessment
                       Demonstration  Pilot
                                                                  Michigan City,  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 Michigan City 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. Michigan City'slocationnearChicago on
the southern shore of Lake Michigan has historically
provided a stimulus for growth. The city prospered
until the 1970s when factories closed, unemployment
rose, and neighborhoods surrounding once-vibrant
industries began to erode. Michigan City (population
32,752) has chosen two aging  and abandoned
industrial facilities (SchmockOil and Royal Metal) in
its Urban Enterprise Zone as Pilot targets. Both
properties are surrounded by single-family homes.
Residents in the Pilot areas (population 10,114)
have an unemployment rate of  10 percent, and
poverty rates up to 22 percent.

Contamination is known or suspected at both sites in
neighborhoods already impacted economically and
socially. The one-acre Schmock Oil facility was
originaUyusedforsheetrockmanufacturingandlater
as an industrial equipment supply warehouse. When
an oil leak was discovered on the property in 1999,
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Announcement:
April 2001

Amount: $200,000

Greenspace $50,000

Profile: The Pilot targets two
abandoned industrial facilities
surrounded by single-family
homes in an Urban Enterprise
Zone of the city.
Michigan City, Indiana
Contacts:

Michigan City
(219)873-1211
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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soil contaminated by the leak was removed, as well
as oil drams and tanks. Other kinds of contamination
remain. The five-acre Royal Metal facility, which
produced office furniture, is in disrepair, and the city
has had to condemn collapsed buildings on the site.
If contamination can be addressed at the sites, both
of which are served by good infrastructures, they
havepotentialforrehabilitationinanareathatneeds
an economic boost.

OBJECTIVES

The city's overall objective is to clean up and reuse
the Schmock Oil and Royal Metal facilities in the
Urban Enterprise Zone. The city plans to acquire
these facilities through condemnation and foreclosure
on property tax issues. Pilot funds will be used to
perform assessments at the two sites and determine
a cleanup strategy and reuse plan. Neighborhood
groups will be established to monitor and participate
in the process beginning with the initial site
assessments.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental
  site assessments of the Schmock Oil and Royal
  Metalfacilities;

• Developing acleanup andreuseplanthatincludes
  cleanup costs and sources of cleanup funds; and

• Involving community groups during the entire
  process.

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                                                Michigan City, Indiana
 April 2001                                                                         EPA500-F-01-267

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