Brownfields Supplemental Assistance

PILOT SNAPSHOT
	Date of Announcement: March 2000 Amount: $100,000
Target Area: City of Chicago, IL Profile: The Pilot will support Chicago's successful brownfields program through supporting environmental assessments at approximately 25 brownfields sites throughout the city.

BACKGROUND

EPA awarded the City of Chicago supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot. Several areas of Chicago are characterized by mixed residential and industrial land uses. Abandoned industrial properties have created economic blight and hampered redevelopment. In 1993, Chicago established the Chicago Brownfields Redevelopment Initiative to revitalize the city's abandoned and contaminated properties. The Initiative currently manages about 26 sites and is comprised of an interdepartmental team of project managers from the city Departments of Environment, Planning and Development, and Law.

The city's success in returning contaminated and/or abandoned sites to productive use is demonstrated through a number of ongoing redevelopment projects. For example, it was recently announced that a $190 million minority-owned television studio will be built on a former dump; and a plastics molding factory, which will employ 600 people, will be developed on another abandoned site.

OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES

The objective of this brownfields pilot is to continue the successful work begun by the City of Chicago through supporting additional environmental assessments at brownfield sites. More than 100 potential additional brownfield sites exist and will be evaluated based on access and control, estimates of cleanup costs, and property value. Most of these areas have received special designations (model industrial corridors, planned manufacturing districts, and tax increment financing districts).

To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to:

• Conduct environmental assessments at approximately 25 priority brownfield sites throughout the city;

• Facilitate industrial and commercial redevelopment at abandoned industrial sites; and

• Continue to draw on a variety of funding mechanisms for assessments and other activities necessary to redevelop brownfield sites.

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

CONTACTS

Chicago Department
of Environment
(312) 744-9139

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 5
(312) 886-1960

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/