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  Brownfields  2008

  Grant  Fact  Sheet

  Housing Authority  of

            the City of

     East St.  Louis,  IL


EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders 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, President George W. Bush signed
into law the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under this 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 programs through
a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The Housing Authority of the  City of East St. Louis
was selected to receive a brownfields assessment
grant. Located directly across  the Mississippi River
from the St. Louis Arch, a majority of East St. Louis
(population 30,651) was designated a federal Empow-
erment Zone and Enterprise Community in 1998. The
city has lost thousands of residents since 1959, when
its population peaked at 82,295. Shortly after this peak,
the city's manufacturing and transportation centers
were abandoned. The St. Louis metropolitan area
experienced growth through sprawl, and East St. Louis
 Assessment Grant
 $200,000 for hazardous substances
 EPA has selected the Housing Authority of the City
 of East St. Louis for a brownfields assessment
 grant. Hazardous substances grant funds will be
 used to prioritize sites and conduct up to six Phase
 I and up to five Phase II environmental site assess-
 ments. Grant funds also will be used to support
 community outreach activities.
 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: Housing Authority of the City of
 East St. Louis, IL
 618-646-7114

 The information presented in this fact sheet comes
 from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
 accuracy of this information. The cooperative
 agreement for the grant has not yet been negoti-
 ated. Therefore, activities described in this fact
 sheet are subject to change.
experienced economic decline. In 2003, the city's
poverty rate was 36.7 percent, and 97.7 percent of its
residents are African-American. There are 80 vacant
commercial and industrial facilities within the city's light
industrial area alone and at least 13 additional
brownfields on more than 90 acres throughout the city.
Assessment of brownfields is expected to help expe-
dite the city's redevelopment efforts.
                                                Solid Waste and
                                                Emergency Response
                                                (5105T)
                        EPA560-F-08-215
                        April 2008
                        www.epa.gov/brownfields

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