United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response(5101)
EPA500-F-99-138
June 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Hammond, IN
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. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models;job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfieldstofacilitatecleanupofbrownfieldssites and preparetrainees for future employmentintheenvironmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans 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 Hammond for a
Brownfields Pilot. Hammond (population 180,858) is
located in the middle of an industrialized area of
Northwest Indiana and contains the George Lake
watershed, which is one of the few remaining natural
areas in the region. The area has a 45 percent
minority populationandishometo severe environmental
degradation from heavy industrial use, such as steel
mills, refineries, and chemical plants.
George Lake is surrounded by several former industrial
facilities with possible environmental contamination,
including the Federated Metals hazardous waste
dumpsite, the Amoco Oil Company research center,
the Union Carbide Company disposal site, and the
Bairstow site, a 97-acre former steel mill slag waste
dump. Hammond has already assessed the Bairstow
site, and the property is part of the lake's restoration
project that includes the construction (already
underway) of an affordable youth golf course, as well
as the creation of an adult golf course, protection of
sensitive wooded uplands associated with migratory
birds, and the enhancement of the lake and its two
basins.
PILOTSNAPSHOT
Hammond, Indiana
Contacts:
City of Hammond
Department of
Environmental Management
(219) 853-6306
Date of Announcement:
June 1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
the industrialized and
degraded George Lake
watershed for transformation
into a public recreation area.
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/
For further information, 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's goal is to help redevelop and restore the
George Lake watershed by completing environmental
assessments and cleanup plans at brownfields
surrounding George Lake. The Pilot will complement
the George Lake watershed restoration proj ect, whose
goals are to identify and quantify all environmental
contamination in the watershed, restore natural areas
of the lake, and clean up impacted lake property for
redevelopment as an accessible public recreational
and natural resource.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental
assessments of targeted brownfields in the George
Lake watershed;
• Planning and designing site cleanup options with
input from the community; and
• Continuing and expanding the community involvement
strategy for the George Lake watershed restoration
project, including monthly site planning meetings,
computer modeling and displays of soil, surface
water, and groundwater contamination, and ahotline
to answer questions concerning the project.
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 Hammond, Indiana
June 1999 EPA500-F-99-138
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