Brownfields 201 1 Cleanup Grant Fact Sheet ™ Chicago Housing Authority, IL EPA Brownfields Program EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states. communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield 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. In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help states and communities around the country cleanup and revitalize brownfields sites. 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 Chicago Housing Authority was selected to receive a brownfields cleanup grant. The Housing Authority is targeting a site in the Bronzeville community of Chicago (city population 2,851,268). The site is in a large public housing development known as Stateway Gardens that is being razed. In the mid-1980s, the Stateway Gardens development was located in the sixth most disadvantaged census tract in the nation. In 2000, the Housing Authority began a long process of demolishing the Stateway Gardens. Bronzeville residents are primarily African-American, and most live below the poverty level. When the target site is cleaned up, it will be part of the larger, citywide Plan for Transformation to provide neighborhoods with community amenities. The city plans to redevelop the target site and the rest of the Stateway Gardens property with 128 new units of mixed-income housing. Cleanup Grant $200,000 for hazardous substances EPA has selected the Chicago Housing Authority for a brownfields cleanup grant. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to clean up the Park Boulevard Phase 2A site at 3555 South State Street. The 1.8-acre site originally contained commercial, residential, and light industrial buildings, including an automotive repair facility, mattress factory, and lumber shop. Site soil is contaminated with heavy metals and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. Grant funds also will be used to conduct 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 (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields). EPA Region 5 Brownfields Team (312)886-7576 EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfiel ds) Grant Recipient: Chicago Housing Authority,IL 312-913-7608 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 negotiated. Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change. United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) E PA 560-F-128-064 May 2011 ------- |