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Brownfields 2008 Grant Fact Sheet
Blue Island, 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. On January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. 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.
ASSESSMENT GRANTS
$200,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Blue Island for two brownfields assessment grants. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to conduct a brownfields inventory and prioritize sites in the South Cargo-Oriented Development Area. Grant funds also will be used to perform 25 Phase I and two Phase II environmental site assessments. Petroleum grant funds will be used to conduct a brownfields inventory, prioritize sites, and perform 12 Phase I and three Phase II environmental site assessments in the Cargo- and Transit-Oriented Development Areas. Grant funds also will be used to support community outreach activities.
COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION
The City of Blue Island was selected to receive two brownfields assessment grants. Located next to the southwest side of Chicago, Blue Island (population 23,463) is within a federally designated Empowerment Zone. The city grew as a transportation and industrial center with a traditional main street area, and now has a diverse economy and population. Today, 24 percent of residents are African-American, and 39 percent are Hispanic. The unemployment rate is eight percent, and the poverty rate is 12.3 percent. The city has created an economic development plan to recreate its downtown and revitalize the economy. This plan includes Cargo- and Transit-Oriented Development Areas focused on the integrated development of homes, businesses, public transit, and other public amenities. The city's brownfields assessment efforts will be focused on these areas, where there are more than 30 vacant or underused parcels, including a 60-acre triangle of land. Assessment of brownfields in these areas will provide information about environmental contamination and is expected to be the first step in the redevelopment of these districts.
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.
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Team
312-886-7576
EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site
Grant Recipient: City of Blue Island, IL
708-396-7138
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.