There's trouble in many a Midwestern river city, as manufacturers pull out of town and leave behind unemployment and contaminated industrial sites. But the heartland states are taking advantage of their flexible brownfield funding options to help remediate contaminated land and create jobs at the same time.

"There are a lot of older river communities in Illinois, as in most Midwest states, where industry was a major part of their commerce," said Doug Scott, director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. "Once the factories moved on, it's been very difficult to put those properties back into productive use."

But by creatively combining environmental cleanup dollars with economic development options, Illinois and other Midwestern states are promoting brownfield redevelopment as both environmentally friendly and a boost to civic pride.

"What's turned into an eyesore now may have been the positive thing for the community at one point—the big factory where everyone went to work," said Scott. "If you can get the old building torn down and turned into something the community can be proud of again, that's a benefit."

In Wisconsin, the 11-year-old Brownfields Study Group, created by the state legislature, meets regularly to brainstorm innovative ideas and then pushes for revisions to state law to make the changes happen, said John Antaramian, principal of Emerging Communities Corp. in Kenosha, Wis., and a group member.

"Right now, the group is talking about how to deal with all the plant closings going on—how we can get involved early with the companies when they're not going to keep them open," he said.

Each of the Midwestern states mixes and matches brownfield redevelopment strategies and funding to suit the needs of its own communities, but all are thinking outside the box these days. Tax incentives, revolving loan funds, specialized brownfield "think tanks" and funding groups, partnerships with other agencies, more user-friendly liability laws—all are part of the options available in various states.

"We've touched just about every creative variety of economic and community development in the state," said William Murdock, director of the Ohio Dept. of Development's Urban Development Division. "Every community gets to choose which [brownfield redevelopment] project to bring forward. Some are just amazing sites that really shine; others are more quiet stories but very meaningful in terms of economic development."

Gold medal ambitions
Of course, Midwestern brownfields aren't found just in rural areas or small towns. Major metropolitan areas like Chicago, Milwaukee and Indianapolis have been in the forefront of brownfield redevelopment in the Midwest.

Chicago, in particular, is a national leader in sustainable development under Mayor Richard M. Daley's longtime "green" agenda for the city. Chicago's bid for hosting the 2016 Olympic Games pledges to stage a carbon-neutral event by expanding the city's existing environmental policies and programs, including brownfield remediation, and using the International Olympic Committee's Agenda 21 principles to develop a "state-of-the-art environmental management system." The city even printed its application using 100 percent soy ink on 100 percent post-consumer recycled fiber.

Midwestern towns both large and small are also hoping to receive funds from the pending federal stimulus program to tackle new brownfield redevelopments, state environmental officials. In fact, many states already have shovel-ready brownfields projects on hold because of the current economic woes and the lending crisis.

"If they give it [stimulus funding] to the states, we've got our grants ready to roll," said Susan Erickson, chief, Environmental Stewardship Grants and Loans Unit, Environmental Science and Services Division, Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality.