Brownfields 2003 Grant Fact Sheet

Freeport, IL

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic development 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. On January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields 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.

ASSESSMENT GRANT

$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the City of Freeport for a brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be used to conduct assessment activities at sites within the Rawleigh Complex Redevelopment Corridor, which has had many industrial and manufacturing uses because of its proximity to rail lines. Grant funds also will be used to conduct redevelopment planning and community outreach activities.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Freeport was selected to receive an assessment grant. The city has approximately 26,000 residents, including nearly 4,000 residents within the target area. Layoffs, plant closings, and relocations have caused the city's unemployment rate to rise to nearly 11 percent, one of the highest in Illinois. The deterioration of this area accelerated rapidly after the W.T. Rawleigh Corporation declared bankruptcy in the late 1980s and abandoned a 450,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. The area where the Rawleigh Complex Redevelopment Corridor is located has the lowest median household income in the city, and 43 percent of area residents are minorities. A significantly higher percentage of families in this area live in poverty as compared to the city as a whole. Freeport has established a Brownfields Redevelopment Advisory Committee to facilitate community participation in the redevelopment of this area.

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 at: www.epa.gov/brownfields.

EPA Region 5 Brownfields Team
312-886-7576
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/

Grant Recipient: City of Freeport, IL
815-235-8200

Prior to receipt of these funds in fiscal year 2003, the City of Freeport has received brownfields funding for assessment grants.

The cooperative agreement for this grant has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.