HI
                            C3
  Brownfields  2004

  Grant  Fact  Sheet

           Freeport,  IL




EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders in economic development
to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up,
and sustainably reuse brownfields. Abrownfield site is
real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse
of which may be complicated by the presence or
potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant,
or contaminant. On January 11, 2002, the President
signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields
Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible
applicants through four competitive grant programs:
assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup
grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding
support is provided to state and tribal response pro-
grams through a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The City of Freeport was selected to receive a
brownfields cleanup grant. The city, the largest in
Stephenson County, has a population of 26,443. Its
unemployment rate is 10.1 percent, and 22 percent of
its residents are living below the poverty level. The
population around the target area is 1,945, of which 64
percent are minorities. The per capita income of
residents in the project area is lower than the city's
average. The target population will benefit from
cleanup of the CMC Heartland Site through removal of
above- and below-ground storage tanks and associated
contaminated soil. The cleanup of the site is a critical
link between the recently constructed Tutty's Crossing
Trailhead, the Jane Addams Trail, and Pecatonica
   Cleanup Grant
   $200,000 for petroleum

   EPA has selected the City of Freeport for a
   brownfields cleanup grant. Grant funds will be
   used to clean up petroleum contamination at the
   CMC Heartland Site, a former railroad yard
   owned by the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul
   Railroad. Portions of the site had been leased to
   bulk petroleum facilities, lumberyards, coal
   businesses, stockyards, beer distributors, ice-
   houses, and grain companies.
   Contacts
   For further information, including specific grant
   contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
   news and events, and publications and links, visit
   the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/
   brownfields

   EPA Region 5 Brownfields Team
   312-886-7576
   http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/

   Grant Recipient: Freeport, IL
   815-235-8205

   The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
   yet been negotiated; therefore, the activities
   described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Prairie Path. The Jane Addams Trail, once completed,
will establish an interstate recreational link between
Illinois and Wisconsin.
                                                  Solid Waste and
                                                  Emergency Response
                                                  (5105T)
                         EPA560-F-04-131
                         June 2004
                         www.epa.gov/brownfields

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