United States
                      Environmental
                      Protection Agency
                      Washington, D.C. 20460
                         Solid Waste
                         and Emergency
                         Response(5101)
 EPA500-F-99-147
 June 1999
 www.epa.gov/brownfields/
  SEPA
Brownf ields Assessment
Demonstration  Pilot
                                         WestAllis, Wl
 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 West Allis and the
Village of West Milwaukee for a Brownfields Pilot.
West Allis and West Milwaukee are suburbs of the
City of Milwaukee, located in southeastern Wisconsin.
The two municipalities share a 32-acre industrial
brownfields site, the former Wehr Steel property.

Heavy industry, such as  the former Wehr Steel
facility that was used as a steel foundry and landfill,
once dominated these communities. However, during
the 1980s, more than 8,500 manufacturing jobs were
lost during the industry shutdowns and downsizing,
and a number of large, vacant industrial brownfields
were left in the communities.  The 32-acre Wehr
Steel  site—once  the largest  steel facility in
Wisconsin—is one  of the last large brownfields in
West Allis remaining to be cleaned up and redeveloped.

OBJECTIVES

Using the  Pilot to jump-start the  environmental
assessments at the targeted Wehr Steel site, the two
municipalities  ultimately  seek to  clean up the
environmental and public health-related hazards on
the site and redevelop it into a business park. The two
                         PILOTSNAPSHOT
                           West Allis, Wisconsin
                                               Date of Announcement:
                                               June 1999

                                               Amount:  $200,000
  Profile: The Pilot targets
  the 32-acre former Wehr
  Steel property in the City of
  West Allis and the Village of
  West Milwaukee.
                         Contacts:

                         City of West Allis
                         Department of Development
                         (414) 302-8462
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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municipalities plan to accomplish these goals through
an "infill development" strategy that was designed to
eliminate blighted properties, return properties to the
tax base, and provide job  opportunities for area
residents. The municipalities will use state and local
mechanisms to remove liability and financing barriers
to facilitate cleanup and redevelopment after the Pilot
has conducted the assessments.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Conducting environmental assessments of the former
  Wehr Steel property; and

• Designing a cleanup plan for the site.

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                                                West Allis, Wisconsin
 June 1999                                                                            EPA500-F-99-147

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