Rep. Schneider, Mayor Cunningham Announce $400,000 U.S. EPA Clean-up Grant for Waukegan

Today, Congressman Brad Schneider (D-IL) and City of Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham announced the award of a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up an 11-acre site along Lake Michigan.

The funds will be used at the former Fansteel property at 801 South Market Street in Waukegan. This property was formerly used for industrial operations until 1987 and is contaminated with chloroform, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and PCBs. The site was purchased by a developer in 2004 and entered into the State of Illinois Voluntary Site Remediation Program. However, the site remains vacant and only partially cleaned up since work was halted in 2009 due to financial reasons.

"I am thrilled to share the news of this EPA grant to help clean-up a valuable piece of lakefront property in Waukegan that has sat vacant and contaminated for too long," said Schneider. "I congratulate the City of Waukegan for their selection for this competitive grant, and look forward to supporting the efforts of Mayor Cunningham and other community leaders to restore and redevelop this former industrial site."

"I am excited by what this announcement and what this grant means for Waukegan," said Cunningham. "This will allow for the final cleanup of a long-vacant and contaminated industrial site, opening it up for future redevelopment opportunities on our lakefront. This investment is a key turning point for this property and I believe that it will be a huge catalyst that will help to further our goal of making Waukegan the primary destination for arts, culture and recreation in Northern Illinois."

This competitive grant was awarded through the EPA's Brownfields Program, which empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is property whose use, expansion, or redevelopment may be complicated by the presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.