FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): The City’s Redevelopment Department has received $283,400 to begin cleanup work on the city-owned North River property.
The funds come from the EPA’s Indiana Brownfields Grant Program to remove up to 2,400 tons of potentially contaminated soils on the former OmniSource site just north of downtown. The grant will also provide funds for 10 groundwater monitoring wells to be installed. Five are currently on the site, with no indication of any groundwater problems.
“The North River property has sat untouched and blighted for more than a decade, and now the City has the opportunity to ensure its proper clean-up and redevelopment,” said Nancy Townsend, redevelopment director. “We are grateful for our partnership with the Indiana Brownfields Program and the EPA, which will help us turn this 29-acre site into an asset for Riverfront Fort Wayne and our entire community.”
RELATED: Henry, Council split on North River property
The environmental cleanup work will begin next month by IWM Consulting. Soil removal should be finished by October, with the groundwater monitoring continuing for a year.
Additional remediation could be needed depending on the end use of the property, whether it be residential, retail, office space or industrial.
1 comment
Does the Grant carry the entire cost? $234k doesn’t sound like much these days. On a side note: I always enjoy hearing about this property, listening to talk radio and the complaints for the potential cost to tax payers for cleanup. But what you never hear is how the City purchased the property even though the property owners wouldn’t disclose the environmental report. Why would the City agree to purchase this property without being informed as to how much the cost?…Tom Henry’s bother was the property owner. I’m sure that didn’t have anything to do with it and I’m sure he didn’t make a bunch of money off it. I’m sure Tom Henry didn’t push the deal through for his brother. It’s only tax payer money, right? Who cares what the real story is.