Environmental Progress - Winter 1999

New Grant Program Deals with Brownfields Sites

A $115,976 grant for abandoned Lockport problems

Lockport plans to reclaim this site.

Two weed-infested gas stations in downtown Lockport that have been longtime civic eyesores will be the first targets of the new Illinois Brownfields Redevelopment Grant program administered by Illinois EPA.

Lockport was awarded the first grant from the program in October. The $115,976 will be used by the city primarily to do the preparation necessary to complete cleanups of two long abandoned gas stations in the downtown area, and a former fast food restaurant and gas station.

Last year, Gov. Jim Edgar and the legislature authorized a four-year $6 million program to assist municipalities in doing the identification, assessments and planning for getting potentially contaminated and unused properties cleaned up and put back into productive use.

The law provides for Illinois EPA to issue grants to municipalities of up to $120,000.

"To us, this grant represents the empowerment of a community to address environmental needs," said former Illinois EPA Director Mary Gade.

The Illinois EPA estimates there are as many as 5,000 such sites in the state

There are an estimated 5,000 Brownfields sites in the state. The Illinois EPA's working definition is "a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment."

"The village of Lockport is the first Illinois community  -- of what we hope will be many -- to use the Redevelopment Grant to tackle head-on a cleanup and community reuse problem that has affected it for a long time. In this case, one of these sites has been a blight on the community for more than 10 years," said Illinois EPA Bureau of Land Chief William Child, who announced the first grant at the Lockport Municipal Building.

"With this great award, the city of Lockport will soon be able to revert these abandoned sites into revenue producing commercial properties, as well as ensure the health and safety of our residents," said Lockport Mayor Frank Mitchell.

The abandoned gas stations at 301 S. State Street and 14th and State in Lockport are the primary sites Lockport hopes will be redeveloped. A new owner of one property has requested commercial zoning and Metra has expressed interested in the second site for a commuter parking lot.

The weed infested eyesores had plagued the community for more than a decade.

"These weed infested targets for vandalism and dumping have been eyesores for Lockport for well over a decade," the city stated in its grant application.

Illinois EPA previously spent several hundred thousand dollars to mitigate hazards associated with leaking underground tanks at 301 S. State Street.

Lockport officials plan to use some of the grant funds to do a preliminary assessment of an abandoned fast food restaurant/gas station at Thornton and State Streets that has attracted interest from a potential developer.

Three other communities have submitted applications that are still being reviewed for grants under the program. The Illinois EPA is also working with about 25 other communities at this time to define project scopes and draft applications.

The same legislation creating the grant program for municipalities also provided a new state income tax credit for developers and others doing the actual cleanup. The 25 percent credit applies to costs of up to $600,000 per site.