The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded grants for assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites to several communities in the New North region.
- Sheboygan County will receive a $500,000 community-wide grant to conduct 12 Phase I and 12 Phase II environmental site assessments. Funds also will be used to identify and prioritize additional sites, prepare a revitalization plan, and support community engagement activities. The target area is the 15th Street Corridor in the city of Sheboygan. Priority sites include the Jakum Hall Property, nine parcels on North 15th Street, three parcels at 13th Avenue and Erie Avenue, three parcels at 13th Avenue and Michigan Avenue.
- Calumet County will receive a $1 million grant to conduct 18 Phase I and 16 Phase II environmental site assessments and support community outreach. Assessments will focus on the city of Chilton’s Main Street Corridor, the city of Brillion’s Iron Works Corridor, the city of Appleton’s Water Street and Washington Street Corridors and the city of Kaukauna’s Fox River Corridor. Priority sites include Chilton Plating, Brillion Iron Works, a vacant manufactured gas plant in Appleton, and a former railroad switchyard in Kaukauna.
- The Green Bay Redevelopment Authority will receive $1 million to clean up the Badger Sheet Metal site at 420 S. Broadway and 419 S. Maple St. The site, formerly used for multiple residential and industrial purposes, is contaminated with hazardous substances and petroleum. The grant will also support community outreach and a public meeting.
- The city of Green Bay will receive a $500,000 community-wide grant to conduct 12 environmental site assessments, prepare five cleanup plans and update the city’s GIS-based brownfield site inventory. Priority sites include a coal storage and transferring facility, a former railyard, a former paper mill, a former restaurant and a former meatpacking facility.
- The city of Manitowoc will receive a $500,000 grant to clean up the River Point District Phase 2 Redevelopment Area and to support community outreach activities. The 6.1-acre cleanup site was developed for railroad use in the 1860s and remained operation through most of the 20th century. It is contaminated with volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals in soil and groundwater, petroleum, and chlorinated solvents.
The Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund Grant targets former industrial sites that are potentially contaminated with hazardous materials.
The city of Sheboygan purchased the Jakum Hall property last year with the intention of demolishing the building and redeveloping the site into affordable housing.
“Sheboygan County could not be more thrilled to receive its fourth assessment grant. The prior three grants leveraged well over $100 million in redevelopment projects, which for a community of our size, is significant,” said Sheboygan County Board Chairman Vernon Koch. “We look forward to working with the USEPA to continue building on our prior success.”
