United States
                      Environmental
                      Protection Agency
                      Washington, D.C. 20460
 Solid Waste
 and Emergency
 Response (5101)
EPA500-F-97-149
May 1997
                      Regional   Brownfields
                      Assessment  Pilot
                                Wisconsin  Department of
                                             Natural Resources
  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. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields
solutions. EPAis funding morethan 27 Pilots in 1997. The Pilots 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 Region 5 selected the Wisconsin Department of
Natural  Resources (WDNR)  for a Regional
Brownfields Pilot. EPA Superfund Assessment funds
($200,000) will be directed to brownfields activities.
In addition, WDNR is contributing $150,000 to this
effort.

Many Wisconsin communities are burdened with tax
delinquent or bankrupt properties that have either
real or perceived contamination.  Developers are
he sitant to inve st in the se propertie s without knowing
the extent of environmental contamination, liability,
and potential cleanup costs.  Moreover, local govern-
ments often lack the resources to determine if, and to
what extent, such properties are contaminated.

OBJECTIVES

WDNR's objective in this  brownfields effort is to
encourage  redevelopment by providing no-cost
environmental  Site Assessments to  interested
municipalities. WDNR requested applications from
municipalities and has chosen to assess 12 sites in 11
cities representing 210 acres as part of the project.
WDNR will provide a common approach and analysis
for each site that will eventually form the basis for
 PILOT SNAPSHOT
                   Date of Award:
                   February 1997

                   Amount: $200,000

                   Site Profile: The pilot
                   targets twelve Brownfields
                   sites, covering
                   approximately 210 acres
                   throughout the State.
  State of Wisconsin
Contacts:

Darsi Foss
Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources (WDNR)
(608)267-6713
   Joe Dufficy
   U.S. EPA-Region 5
   (312)886-1960
   dufficy.joe@
   epamail.epa.gov
       Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
       http://www.epa.gov/brownfields

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decisions regarding community health issues, property
marketability, and long-term environmental liability
implications. It is anticipated that upon completion
of the assessments conducted at each of the 12 sites.
Communities will be able to focus their efforts toward
cleanup and redevelopment.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

The Pilot is:

• Conducting Phase  I  and II Site Assessments,
 including installing monitoring wells and sampling
 groundwater, surface water, soil, and  sediment, as
 well as examining past records and historic use of
 targeted properties; and

• Based on the Site Assessment results,  determining
 the need for additional environmental investigation
 or cleanup.
 Regional Bmwnfields Assessment Pilot                             Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
 May 1997                                                                      EPA 500-F-97-149

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