The Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail are thrilled to share the news that the City of Chicago has been awarded a $500,000 grant to help clean up one of the remaining unfinished access parks to the Bloomingdale Trail. Located on Kimball Avenue on the North side of the Bloomingdale Trail in Logan Square, the site is one of the original planned access parks, dating back to the Logan Square Open Space Plan (2004).
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Of course we are aware that there are a number of steps until the former manufacturing site can be reborn as a vibrant community park and valuable west end anchor to the Bloomingdale Trail. But every journey begins with one step. Hats off to the City for persevering and applying for this grant several times. And thank you to everyone, especially in the Humboldt Park and Logan Square community around the site who have come out for multiple public meetings, which contributed valuable information to this grant.
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For those who are interested here is the complete press release from the EPA:
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News Releases from Region 05
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EPA awards City of Chicago $500,000 to clean up former manufacturing site on North Kimball Avenue
Part of $1.2 Million for Brownfield Cleanups in Illinois
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05/06/2020
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EPA awards City of Chicago $500,000 to clean up former manufacturing site on North Kimball Avenue
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Part of $1.2 Million for Brownfield Cleanups in Illinois
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CHICAGO (May 6, 2020) –Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that the City of Chicago will receive $500,000 to assess and clean up a contaminated property under the Agency’s Brownfield’s Program. Under President Trump’s Administration, EPA has delivered approximately $287 million in Brownfield grants directly to communities and nonprofits for cleanup and redevelopment, job creation, and economic development through the award of over 948 grants.
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“These communities are ready to move forward with redevelopment, they just lacked the funding to take that next step,” said EPA Regional Administrator Kurt Thiede. “EPA’s Brownfields grants help jumpstart the process by providing support for assessments and cleanups.”
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“The Illinois EPA, on behalf of this year’s Brownfield grantees, appreciates U.S. EPA’s continuing financial support to advance the environmental investigation, cleanup, and redevelopment of brownfields sites in Illinois.” said Illinois EPA Director John J. Kim. “We look forward to partnering with these municipalities as they work to improve their communities by making these sites once again available for productive use.”
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“Cleaning up contaminated sites is an important step in protecting the children’s health—and the health of all Illinoisans—but it also helps spur development, job creation and economic growth in our state,” U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth said. “As a founder of the Senate’s first Environmental Justice Caucus, I have pushed for more funding for the Brownfields program and to help low-income communities face the public health challenges they are disproportionately affected by. I’ll continue working to ensure all of our communities can breathe clean air and live in a safe environment without fear of toxins and pollution.”
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Nationwide, this year, the agency is announcing the selection of 155 grants for communities and tribes totaling over $65.6 million in EPA brownfields funding the agency’s Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grant Programs. These funds will aid under-served and economically disadvantaged communities, including neighborhoods located in Opportunity Zones, in assessing and cleaning up abandoned industrial and commercial properties. An Opportunity Zone is an economically-distressed community where new investment, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment. Of the 151 total communities selected, 118 of these communities can potentially assess or clean up brownfield sites in census tracts designated in these zones. In addition, nearly 30% of the communities selected today will receive brownfields funding for the first time.
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EPA also announced a $500,000 award to the City of Peoria, and a $275,000 award to the City of Rockford bringing the total to over $1.2 million in brownfields funding for Illinois.
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“The City of Chicago is thrilled to be one of three Illinois recipients of a US EPA Cleanup Grant in 2020, continuing our city’s long-standing partnership with the agency,” said Lori Lightfoot Mayor, City of Chicago. “This grant will allow us to begin the cleanup of the contamination at a brownfield site left behind by a long history of industrial and manufacturing operations, and significantly advance the site’s redevelopment as a public access park.”
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EPA has awarded $500,000 to the City of Chicago to clean up a former manufacturing site located at 1807-1815 North Kimball Avenue. Historically, the site has been used as a lumberyard, machine shop, warehouse, automobile garage, and fluorescent light fixture manufacturing facility. It has been vacant and unused since 2005 and is contaminated with volatile organic compounds and trichloroethene. Grant funds also will be used to support community engagement activities.
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Grants awarded by EPA’s Brownfields Program provide communities across the country with an opportunity to transform contaminated sites into community assets that attract jobs and achieve broader economic development outcomes, while taking advantage of existing infrastructure. For example, brownfields grants are shown to:
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Increase Local Tax Revenue: A study of 48 brownfields sites found that an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional local tax revenue was generated in a single year after cleanup. This is two to seven times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of these sites.
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Increase Residential Property Values: Another study found that property values of homes near revitalized brownfields sites increased between 5% and 15% following cleanup.
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Background
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A brownfield is a property for which the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. There are estimated to be more than 450,000 brownfields in the United States. EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $1.6 billion in brownfield grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. To date, brownfields investments have leveraged more than $31 billion in cleanup and redevelopment. Over the years, the relatively small investment of federal funding, from both public and private sources, leveraged more than 160,000 jobs.
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The next National Brownfields Training Conference will be held on April 26-30, 2021, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Offered every two years, this conference is the largest gathering of stakeholders focused on cleaning up and reusing former commercial and industrial properties. EPA co-sponsors this event with the International City/County Management Association.
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List of the FY 2020 applicants selected for funding: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicants-selected-fy-2020-brownfields-assessment-revolving-loan-fund-and-cleanup-0
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For more on the brownfields grants: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-brownfields-grant-funding
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For more on EPA’s Brownfields Program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields
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For more information about EPA’s role in Opportunity Zones: https://www.epa.gov/opportunity-zones
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For information on the studies related to the Brownfields Program’s environmental and economic benefits: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfields-program-environmental-and-economic-benefits
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Contact Information:
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Francisco Arcaute (arcaute.francisco@epa.gov)
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312-886-7613, 312-898-2042 cell
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