United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-042
June 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Waukegan, 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 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 brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
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 selected the City of Waukegan for a Brownfields
Pilot. Waukegan (population 74,166) is located 39
miles north of Chicago along the shore of Lake
Michigan. The city's deep-water harbor provides
shipping access to the St. Lawrence Seaway for a
number of large corporations, and is the base for a
vibrant sportfishing and sailing industry.
Like many other older industrial port communities,
Waukegan's downtown and waterfront areas are
separated by a number of abandoned and underused
properties. These brownfields have negatively
impacted redevelopment efforts and contributed to
the increase in deteriorating neighborhoods and low-
income households. The unemployment rate is 9.5
percent; the minority population rate is 46 percent;
and 58 percent of the households have low to
extremely low incomes. Brownfields have also been
linked to threats to human health, fish and wildlife,
and soil and water resources. These environmental
problems have made potential developers hesitant to
invest in brownfields properties.
The Pilot will target six brownfields sites along
Madison Street. Redeveloping Madison Street is a
key component of the city's larger Waukegan
Downtown and Waterfront Revitalization Project,
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Award: September 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets six
brownfields properties along the
proposed Madison StreetCorridorthat
will link the city's downtown and
waterfrontareas.
Waukegan, Illinois
Contacts:
CityofWaukegan Building
Department
(847)625-6879
U.S. EPA-Region 5
(312)886-3009
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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which incorporates 20 downtown blocks and
hundreds of lakefront acres. Redeveloping
brownfields is essential to bridging the divide
between downtown and the waterfront and creating
economic opportunities for Waukegan.
OBJECTIVES
Waukegan's objective is to revitalize its downtown
and lakefront areas by creating a new tax base and
new j obs, and by improving public health and safety.
This plan will be achieved by linking downtown and
the waterfront via an intermodal corridor along
Madison Street. Pilot funding will be used to
compile brownfields property information
(ownership, history of environmental contamination,
assessments performed) into a database. This
information will then be used to determine which
properties along Madison Street should be targeted
for further environmental investigation and cleanup.
A final objective of the Pilot is to facilitate
partnerships among interested stakeholders.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Pilot has:
• Identified six sites to be targeted for assessment,
cleanup, and redevelopment; and
• Completed Phase I assessments at five sites.
The Pilot is:
• Creating a geographic information system (GIS)
database outlining property ownership and
environmental assessment status;
• Performing Phase II environmental assessments
and identifying cleanup strategies for two key
properties;
• Conducting community outreach activities to inform
the public about the Pilot's activities; and
• Facilitating the formation of partnerships with
property owners, developers, public and private
financing sources, and community representatives
to develop community-generated cleanup and
redevelopment plans.
LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES
Experience with the Waukegan Pilot has been a
catalyst for related activities, including the following:
• The city shares a $3.5 million grant under EPA's
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund program
with the Illinois Coalition, which includes the State
of Illinois and the cities of Canton, East Moline,
Freeport, Galva, and Lacon.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot
June 2001
Waukegan, Illinois
EPA 500-F-01-042
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