Environmental consultant urges Streator to back strong EPA brownfields application for Smith/Douglas site
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Summary
A consultant for the city urged Streator to adopt a forceful resolution prioritizing the Smith/Douglas brownfield site for U.S. EPA funding and to pursue available state brownfield dollars; staff and consultant will draft recommended language, and a revised grant application deadline was noted for November.
Tim Allen of 3D Environmental Consulting told the Streator City Council that the Smith/Douglas site has long‑standing contamination problems and needs federal and state brownfield funds to proceed to testing and remediation.
Allen recounted knowledge of the site dating to the early 1990s, said piles of sulfur and other contaminants were once visible and said the property narrowly avoided Superfund listing. He described a funding path that includes U.S. EPA brownfields assessment funds (awarded to the state, which would pass money to local recipients) and a state brownfields allocation the consultant said has about $5,000,000 in an awards pool.
Allen asked council to adopt a strong, unanimous resolution designating the site a community priority and affirming that the site will not be remediated without federal help. He offered to help draft “whereas” language and asked that council include the resolution in the grant submittal package; staff said a revised grant application will be due in November and proposed drafting the resolution for the October meeting so it can be finalized.
Council indicated support to work with the consultant to prepare the resolution and to include it in the grant package; staff will bring a recommended resolution for council consideration at a future meeting.
No formal vote was recorded on funding; the item was a presentation and direction to staff to prepare a resolution and application materials.