United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-97-075
May 1997
Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilot
State of Illinois
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 Region 5 selected the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency (IEPA) for aRegional Brownfields
Pilot. The Pilotwill support environmental assessments
at brownfields throughout the State. A number of the
sites identified to date cover approximately 7-10 acres
and were used previously for industry, including
former steel fabrication plants, a former textile mill,
stockyard facilities, and sites associated with former
Pullman Car works. Future uses of the sites range
from a recycling center to parks and a marina. Many
of the sites are located in or near communities populated
largely by minorities and economically disadvantaged
groups. Approximately 2/3 of the resources to date
have been allocated for the sites in Chicago, with the
remaining monies earmarked for East St. Louis and
other downstate communities.
OBJECTIVES
IEPA' s obj ective is to work with selected communities
to facilitate the reintroduction of brownfields into the
real estate market. Current market trends in the State
indicate that, prospective purchasers are unwilling to
assume the risk of accruing undetermined future
costs to clean up possible contamination at these
sites. Because the cost of conducting a private
environmental assessment is prohibitively high, the
sites remain unused. lEPAanticipatesthatinformation
PILOT SNAPSHOT
State of Illinois
Contacts:
Larry Eastep
Illinois EPA
(217)782-6760
Date of Award:
September 1995
Amount: $150,000
Site Profile: The Pilot
targets several sites for
environmental
assessments including
former steel fabrication,
stockyard, and former
Pullman Car works
facilities, which are
located throughout the
State, including Chicago,
East St. Louis, and other
downstate communities.
Tom Crause
Illinois EPA
(217)782-6760
Joe Dufficy
U.S. EPA-Region 5
(312)886-1960
dufficy.joe@epamail.epa.gov
Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
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from the site assessments will enable prospective
purchasers to quantify their potential liability
accurately and encourage them to consider purchasing
these sites for productive use.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Pilot has:
• Identified potential sites throughout the State for
environmental site assessments and redevelopment.
As a result, a list of brownfields sites eligible for
potential assistance under the Pilot was developed;
• Determined relevant selection criteria and selected
17 sites for further action. In 1995, three Chicago
sites were selected. In 1996, two West Central
Municipal Conference (Cook County) sites, one
Marshall County site, and four St. Clair County sites
were selected. In 1997, three Lake County sites
were selected while Clark County, Rock Island
County, Winnebago County, and Marshall County
each had one site selected; and
• Out of the 17 sites described above, completed 11
site assessments to date.
The Pilot is:
• Conducting 6 site assessments at the remaining
priority sites.
LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES
Experience with the State of Illinois Pilot has been a
catalyst for related activities including the following.
• IEPA anticipates that, because the redevelopment of
these sites is of substantial economic importance,
city officials have become more involved in facili-
tating any prospective purchases or redevelopment
and will convey information from the environmen-
tal assessment to the prospective purchasers.
• The City of Chicago is establishing a database that
will track the results of environmental site assess-
ments conducted throughout Chicago.
EPA Region 5 has monitored the success of IEPA's
program over the last several years, and has aug-
mented the initial Pilot funding with monies from
the Superfund Site Assessment Program consistent
with other program demands.
Regional Brownfields Assessment Pilot
May 1997
State of Illinois
EPA 500-F-97-075
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