EAST ST. LOUIS -- Federal stimulus money will be used to clean up the underground fuel tanks at an abandoned building at State and 19th streets.
The site, which has been vacant for 40 years and is overgrown with weeds and trees, will be cleaned up with a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A farmer's market may be opened on the site, but details have not been announced.
At a formal announcement at the site Thursday, Illinois EPA Director Doug Scott said the state is awarding more than $7.4 million in grants to 28 sites, including another abandoned East St. Louis gas station at 15th Street and Missouri Avenue. Scott said selected sites were ones where the department could not find an owner to help pay for the cleanup.
"We're going to remove the abandoned underground storage tank along with associated piping and contaminated soil so that we can make these longtime sites, many of which have been inactive, abandoned sites for a long period of time, available for reuse," Scott said. "That's the real important part to us, to be able to have sites redeveloped. And we went through and looked at the sites that would qualify for this, and we really wanted to look in areas where we thought economic development was needed, where it could happen, where we could find partners that were available to make something happen, and thankfully, we found that here in East St. Louis."
"This is an excellent opportunity for this location," said Rep. Eddie Jackson, D-East St. Louis. "As you see, it is presently an eyesore. But the dollars that they are going to invest in this site helps the developer change an eye sore into a productive business. So East St. Louis welcomes it."
Scott said that the Illinois EPA also has announced money for wastewater and drinking water infrastructure work. Two grants have been awarded to metro-east area projects in Mascoutah and Hamel.
Hamel will receive $1.4 million for a 20-year loan at no interest, with 25 percent of the principal forgiven. The village will construct a new elevated storage tank, modify an existing booster pump station and install approximately 9,000 feet of 12-inch diameter water main. According to the request filed, the current elevated water storage tank was installed about 1950 and no longer has the capacity for the daily average water usage for the village. The old 6-inch water main has undergone frequent repairs because of reoccurring breaks.
Mascoutah's share is $736,455, another no-interest loan with 25 percent of the principal to be forgiven by state and federal authorities. The city will replace water mains and upgrade part of the water distribution system. The city has cited that some of the existing mains are susceptible to corrosion and breaks and require frequent repairs. Some of the old mains are undersized and do not meet recommended standards needed for fire protection.
The U.S. EPA recently announced that the Illinois EPA also will receive almost $4.2 million in stimulus money for 21 state clean diesel projects. Almost $1 million of that will go to four metro-east projects, which include new diesel engines for equipment at Stein Steel in Granite City, barge tug engines that operate on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers near East St. Louis and off-road equipment for the Dynegy power plant in Randolph County and the Waste Management landfill in St. Clair County.
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