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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