SEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (5201 G) July 2000 Superfund Redevelopment Pilots Yeoman Creek Waukegan, IL EPA's Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) is a nationally coordinated effort to facilitate the return of Superfund sites to productive use by selecting response actions consistent with anticipated use. The SRI Pilots are intended to help local governments enhance their involvement in the Superfund decision-making process by assisting EPA in predicting future land uses for Superfund sites. Under the Pilot Program, EPA will provide up to $100,000 in financial assistance and/or services to local governments for specified activities. Applicants are offered several types of program assistance, including funding through a cooperative agreement, access to facilitation services, and/or the availability of personnel under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA). BACKGROUND EPA selected the City of Waukegan, Illinois, for a Superfund Redevelopment Pilot. Waukegan is home to the Yeoman Creek Superfund site. The 70-acre site includes three landfills: Yeoman Creek Landfill, Edwards Field Landfill, and Rubloff Landfill which are now owned by the Waukegan School District, the Waukegan Park District, and a shopping plaza, respectively. The landfills operated from 1958 until 1978. They do not have bottom liners, and the underlying soils are permeable. Leachate has been seeping into Yeoman Creek since 1969. More than 67,000 people in Waukegan are supplied with drinking water from a Lake Michigan intake three miles downstream from the site. In December 1989, EPA added the site to its list of hazardous waste sites needing cleanup. OBJECTIVES Waukegan plans to use its Pilot funds to coordinate with the Waukegan School and Park Districts, and the community, to develop a plan that combines light recreational use, such as walking paths and natural areas, with educational signs describing plants and wetlands. The funds will also be used to develop and coordinate the reuse plan, and for facilitation services. PILOT SNAPSHOT Yeoman Creek A Applicant Name: Waukegan, IL Site Name: Yeoman Creek Date of Selection: July 2000 Anticipated Award: Cooperative Agreement ($100,000) Profile: The city will coordinate with the school and park districts, and the community, to develop a plan for recreational and educational reuse of the site. I Contacts: Thomas Bloom Superfund Hotline: U.S. EPA Region 5 (800) 424-9346 or (312) 886-1967 (703) 412-9810 bl00m.th0mas@epa.gov (DC Metro Area) reuse.info@epa.gov Visit the EPA Superfund Redevelopment Web site http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/recycle/pilot.htm ------- |