United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-301
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA Brownfields Supplemental
Assistance
Canton, IL
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders
in economic redevelopment to worktogether in atimelymannerto prevent, assess, and safely clean up brownfieldsto promote
their sustainable reuse. Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion
or redevelopment is complicated by real orperceivedenvironmentalcontamination.EPAisfunding: assessment demonstration
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years, with additional funding provided for greenspace), to test
assessment models and facilitate coordinated assessment and cleanup efforts at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels;
and job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities
affected by brownfieldsto facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and preparetraineesforfuture employment intheenvironmental
field; and, a cleanup revolving loan fund program (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years) to provide financial assistance
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 Canton to receive
supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot and additional funding for
assessments at Brownfields properties to be used for
greenspacepurposes. Canton population approximately
14,000) has targeted a vacant 3 3 -acre industrial property
atthe heart of its central business district for cleanup and
redevelopment. This location has been an industrial/
manufacturing site since 1847andlieswithin an enterprise
zone (EZ) and a tax increment financing (TIP) district.
International Harvester (IH), once a vibrant business
andmajor employer in the city, operated on the property
for nearly 65 years before closing in 1984. Subsequent
uses of the property have included a steel plow
manufacturing plant, atire recycling site, a storage area,
and a dumping ground for junk and possible hazardous
wastes. These uses have leftunknown contaminants in
their wake. Further, when IH vacated the property the
area lost 3,000 jobs. Using EPA Brownfields
Demonstration Assessment Pilot funds, the city
performed Phase I and some Phase II assessments on
thepropertyandcompletedalandreuseplan. Additionally,
an Illinois EPA (IEPA) Brownfields Redevelopment
Grant helped fund the assessment work and a removal
action was conducted by the U.S. EPA Emergency
Response Branch.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Canton, Illinois
Date of Award: April 2001
Amount: $150,000
Greenspace: $50,000
Profile: The Pilottargets a6-acre
and a 10-acre portion of theformer
International Harvester site in
downtown Canton for assessment,
cleanup, and redevelopment as
commercial/retail space and public
open space.
Contacts:
City of Canton
(309)647-1753
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 5
(312)886-7257
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 AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES
The City of Canton plans to use supplemental funds
to promote cleanup and redevelopment of the IH site
in the city's urban center, which will also help the
region's efforts to conserve and protect the nearby
Illinois River. The Pilot plans to complete Phase II
environmental assessment work and cleanup planning
on a six-acre portion of the IH site in order to obtain
aNo Further Remediation Letter from the Illinois Site
Remediation Program. The city anticipates that the
site will be developed as a commercial/retail
property—an extension of the Downtown Retail
District that will stimulate economic activity and
opportunities for redevelopment by connecting the
downtown with new development on the IH site. The
city also expects that the additional money generated
from the expandedtaxbase will help fund assessment,
cleanup, and redevelopment of the remaining portions
of the IH property.
The Pilot has also been selected by EPA to receive
funding for greenspace activities. The city will use
greenspace funding for Phase II environmental
assessment work and cleanup planning on a 10-acre
section of the IH site, which is slated to become a
public open space in the land reuse plan.
The Pilot plans to:
• Conduct additional soil and groundwatertesting on
the six-acre site in the northwest corner of the IH
site to further characterize contamination;
• Prepare a site investigation report as required by
IEPA;
• Conduct activities in compliance with the state's
Voluntary Cleanup Program, delineating the
boundaries of and re-platting the northwest corner
site, developing appropriate cleanup plans, and
refining the property's end use;
• Continue with Pilot community outreach activities,
including quarterly meetings with the Canton
Brownfields Redevelopment Advisory Council,
creation of project fact sheets, and community
meetings; and
• Conduct a Phase II environmental assessment on a
10-acre portion of the IH site and pursue a No
Further Remediation Letter from the IEPA.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Supplemental Assistance
April2001
Canton, Illinois
EPA 500-F-01-301
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