&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-98-200
July 1998
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Canton, IL
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. Since 1995, EPA has funded more than 200 Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of
brownfields solutions. 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 has selected the City of Canton for a Brownfields
Pilot. Canton (population 13,922) has targeted a
vacant 3 3-acre industrial property at the heart of its
central business district. This location has been an
industrial/manufacturing site since 1847, occupied
primarily by International Harvester (IH). Known
prior uses of the property over its 150-year history
include a steel plow manufacturing plant, atire recycling
site, a storage area, and a dumping ground for junk and
possible hazardous wastes.
International Harvester, once a vibrant business and
major employer in the City, operated on the property
for nearly 65 years before closing in 1983. Over the
years, businesses operating on this site have had little
regard for the property's environmental conditions
and the potential health hazards to residents of
surrounding communities. When IH vacated the
property, it left unknown contaminants and pollution in
its wake and increased the area's unemployment.
The City's current unemployment rate is estimated at
7.5%, with 12.5% of the population living in poverty.
In its 14 years of vacancy, the property has suffered
from fires and other mishaps. The site lies within an
Enterprise Zone (EZ) and a Tax Increment Financing
(TIP) district.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Canton, Illinois
Contacts:
City of Canton
(309) 647-5022
Date of Announcement:
July 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will
target a 33-acre industrial
siteforassessment,
cleanup, and
redevelopment. The
targeted area is located in
both an EZ and a TIP
district.
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/
Forfurtherinformation, 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 will assess the targeted site for types, levels,
and location of contaminants, and will develop both
short- and long-term redevelopment plans. The City
hopes to bring at least 10 acres of the property into a
usable condition within two years. Upon completion
of the Pilot, Canton plans to conduct a workshop
outlining the applicability of the brownfields program
to other small, rural communities.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting Phase I site assessments, Phase II
investigations of suspected hot spots, and a site
screening baseline assessment; and
• Identifying locations within the site that are severely
economically impaired for redevelopment and those
that can be redeveloped within a shorter timeframe.
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 Canton, Illinois
July 1998 EPA500-F-98-200
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