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Brownfields Supplemental Assistance Fact Sheet

City of Canton, IL
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.

PILOT SNAPSHOT

Canton, IL Date of Announcement:
April 2001

Amount: $150,000
Greenspace: $50,000

Target Area: City of Canton, IL

Profile: The Pilot targets a 6-acre and a 10-acre portion of the former International Harvester site in downtown Canton for assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment as commercial/retail space and public open space.

BACKGROUND

EPA has selected the City of Canton to receive supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot and additional funding for assessments at Brownfields properties to be used for greenspace purposes. Canton (population approximately 14,000) has targeted a vacant 33-acre industrial property at the heart of its central business district for cleanup and redevelopment. This location has been an industrial/manufacturing site since 1847 and lies within an enterprise zone (EZ) and a tax increment financing (TIF) district. International Harvester (IH), once a vibrant business and major employer in the city, operated on the property for nearly 65 years before closing in 1984. Subsequent uses of the property have included a steel plow manufacturing plant, a tire recycling site, a storage area, and a dumping ground for junk and possible hazardous wastes. These uses have left unknown contaminants in their wake. Further, when IH vacated the property the area lost 3,000 jobs. Using EPA Brownfields Demonstration Assessment Pilot funds, the city performed Phase I and some Phase II assessments on the property and completed a land reuse plan. Additionally, an Illinois EPA (IEPA) Brownfields Redevelopment Grant helped fund the assessment work and a removal action was conducted by the U.S. EPA Emergency Response Branch.

OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES

The City of Canton plans to use supplemental funds to promote cleanup and redevelopment of the IH site in the city's urban center, which will also help the region's efforts to conserve and protect the nearby Illinois River. The Pilot plans to complete Phase II environmental assessment work and cleanup planning on a six-acre portion of the IH site in order to obtain a No Further Remediation Letter from the Illinois Site Remediation Program. The city anticipates that the site will be developed as a commercial/retail property—an extension of the Downtown Retail District that will stimulate economic activity and opportunities for redevelopment by connecting the downtown with new development on the IH site. The city also expects that the additional money generated from the expanded tax base will help fund assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of the remaining portions of the IH property.

The Pilot has also been selected by EPA to receive funding for greenspace activities. The city will use greenspace funding for Phase II environmental assessment work and cleanup planning on a 10-acre section of the IH site, which is slated to become a public open space in the land reuse plan.

The Pilot plans to:

  • Conduct additional soil and groundwater testing on the six-acre site in the northwest corner of the IH site to further characterize contamination;
  • Prepare a site investigation report as required by IEPA;
  • Conduct activities in compliance with the state's Voluntary Cleanup Program, delineating the boundaries of and re-platting the northwest corner site, developing appropriate cleanup plans, and refining the property's end use;
  • Continue with Pilot community outreach activities, including quarterly meetings with the Canton Brownfields Redevelopment Advisory Council, creation of project fact sheets, and community meetings; and
  • Conduct a Phase II environmental assessment on a 10-acre portion of the IH site and pursue a No Further Remediation Letter from the IEPA.

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

CONTACTS

City of Canton
(309) 647-1753

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 5
(312) 886-7257

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/

United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460 		Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)		 EPA 500-F-01-301
April 2001
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101) Quick Reference Fact Sheet

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