United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-97-010
May 1997
National Brownfields
Assessment Pilot
Chippewa County/
Kinross Township, Ml
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
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. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields
solutions. EPAis funding morethan 27 Pilots in 1997. The Pilots 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 selected Chippewa County/Kinross Township
for a Brownfields Pilot. The project site is the 3,850-
acre Kincheloe Air Force Base, which closed in
1977. Numerous buildings and potentially contami-
nated areas that include landfills, a fire training area,
and an aircraft maintenance area remain at Kincheloe.
Trichloroethylene has been found in the local well
water, and the entire site is on Michigan's contami-
nated site list. Ownership of the Department of De-
fense ( DoD) base was transferred back to this rural
county without an environmental assessment or
remediation. At least 20 prospective businesses have
turned away from developing the site, due to con-
cerns about potential liability associated with the
uncertainty about the level of site contamination.
Because the base closure predates current base clo-
sure regulations, DoD funding for Kincheloe is lim-
ited. Kincheloe impacts low to moderate income
citizens and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa
Indians in the project area.
OBJECTIVES
The intent of Chippewa County's brownfields effort
is to investigate, remediate, market, and reuse the
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Award:
September 1996
Amount: $200,000
Site Profile: The Pilot
targets brownfields sites
throughout the 3,850-acre
former Kincheloe Air
Force Base.
Chippewa County, Michigan
Contacts:
Kathy Noel
Economic Development
Corporation of
Chippewa County
(906) 495-5631
William Haubold
U.S. EPA-Region 5
(312)353-6261
haubold.william@
epamail.epa.gov
Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
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brownfields at Kincheloe by coordinating public and
private resources. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
has completed 43 Phase I assessments. Chippewa
County's objectives are to complete all Phase II and
III assessments by mid-1997, create a task force of
stakeholders that initially will target brownfields
sites for redevelopment, and prepare a strategy for
each parcel in compliance with Indian trust land
agreements.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Pilot is:
• Completing Phase I-III site assessments;
• Convening a community task force of public and
private stakeholders to plan a redevelopment strat-
egy for each potential brownfields area and to
coordinate the environmental/economic redevelop-
ment strategy;
• Preparing legal documentation related to land own-
ership, liability, due care requirements, zoning, and
financing, as a part of brownfields land-use plan-
ning; and
• Communicating and interacting with affected resi-
dents through task force outreach, direct mailings,
public meetings, and local news media.
National Brownfields Assessment Pilot Chippewa County/Kinross Township, Michigan
May 1997 EPA 500-F-97-010
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