By Bob Caylor of The News-Sentinel
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 – 7:09 pm

“For the next couple of weeks, the city of Fort Wayne wants to find out about brownfield sites that might have potential for redevelopment.

Through Feb. 7, the city is accepting “site survey forms” requesting that the city evaluate a site. Brownfield sites are abandoned, idled or underused industrial and commercial sites where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by the real, potential or perceived presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

To qualify, a site must:

• Be located in Fort Wayne
• Meet the definition of a brownfield
• Not be owned now by the polluter of the site or be destined for an end use by the polluter

The city began more focused efforts to redevelop brownfields 15 years ago. Since then, city officials say, notable successes include Parkview Field and Harrison Square downtown and the housing, assisted-living center and YMCA that occupy the site of a 1997 tire fire on the near-south side of town. The city of Fort Wayne continues pursuing projects with private investors to redevelop such properties as part of its economic-development efforts.

In this case, the foray into finding and studying brownfields is aided by a pool of funding. Last year, the city received two grants – each for $200,000 – from the EPA to assess brownfields. One grant is devoted to sites potentially contaminated by petroleum. The other will evaluate sites that may be contaminated by hazardous materials.

“This type of recycling of land can revitalize neighborhoods,” said Aliza Tourkow, a redevelopment specialist and grants coordinator for the city, told about 50 people who attended an informational meeting on the grants Tuesday at Parkview Field.

TO FIND OUT MORE

To find out more about the grants, the effort to expand the city’s brownfields listings or about brownfields development in general, go to www.fwbrownfield.org.”

Link to article:

http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120124/NEWS/120129716/1012/LOCAL

For reprints please contact the News-Sentinel:

FortWayne.com
c/o Fort Wayne Newspapers
600 West Main Street,
P.O. Box 100 Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Phone: 1-800-444-3303

Celebrate 15 Years of Recycling Brownfields! Community Forum to be Held at Parkview Field

Fort Wayne, Ind. – The City of Fort Wayne’s Redevelopment Department invites you to a community forum to discuss new brownfield grant funding, and to celebrate 15 years of brownfield recycling.

At 4:00pm on Tuesday, January 24th, Parkview Field will host the Redevelopment Department’s community brownfield forum.  This forum will discuss details about the $400,000 EPA Brownfield Assessment Grants awarded to the City in late 2011.  There will be refreshments and you will find out:

• How the grants can be utilized;
• What type of sites will be eligible for grant assistance;
• Who to contact if you are interested in redeveloping brownfield impacted areas;
• How you can keep up-to-date on brownfield events/project status;
• How to suggest sites as potential brownfields.

City staff and the brownfield consultants will be available after the meeting to answer questions.  Community input and questions are encouraged.

To register for this event, go to the City’s Brownfield website homepage at http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/redevelopment-home/133-brownfields-.html and select the “Register” link under the “Events” section to RSVP for this community forum.  Alternatively, you may call 427-1127 to confirm your attendance.

Below is a link to our Facebook page.  Or just click on the image.

http://www.facebook.com/LougheedEngineering

Please take a moment to “like” our new page.

News Release

Contact: Greg Leatherman, City of Fort Wayne
Executive Director, Redevelopment Commission – 260.427.2102

Aliza Tourkow, City of Fort Wayne
Grant Administrator/Redevelopment Specialist – 260.427.2792

Consultants Selected to Conduct Work on $400k EPA Grants

Fort Wayne, Ind. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency selected the City of Fort Wayne as a recipient of two Brownfield Assessment Grants. One grant addresses sites potentially impacted by petroleum and the other grant will evaluate sites that may be contaminated by hazardous substances. Each grant is in the amount of $200,000.

The City is pleased to announce the award of the environmental consulting contracts to two local firms, SES Environmental and the team of Lougheed/Mundell & Associates,” said Greg Leatherman, Executive Director of the Redevelopment Commission. “The most important aspect of these grants is that it allows the City to continue its efforts to redevelop and recycle underutilized sites that have been hampered by real or perceived environmental issues.”

SES Environmental, based in Fort Wayne, was chosen to conduct the inventory and site assessments for petroleum-related properties. This environmental consulting firm worked with the City on the 2007-2010 EPA Brownfields Petroleum Assessment Grant. The newly awarded 2011-2014 EPA Brownfields Petroleum Assessment Grant will allow SES Environmental to expand the brownfield investigations they started under the prior grant. Historically, SES Environmental has been instrumental in the assessment and clean-up of many brownfield sites around the City of Fort Wayne, including the Bowser Tire site.

The team of Lougheed/Mundell & Associates will evaluate sites with perceived hazardous substance issues. Lougheed & Associates are based in Fort Wayne, while Mundell & Associates are based in Indianapolis. This is the first time the City has been awarded the Hazardous Substances Assessment Grant.

According to Aliza Tourkow, Grants Administrator, Both consulting teams, SES Environmental and Lougheed/Mundell & Associates, have strong credentials concerning environmental studies and implementing EPA grants. Collaboratively, they provide a local presence with well-rounded environmental assessment abilities.”

A public meeting will be held in January 2012 to explain the details of the grant and to solicit feedback from community members about potential sites of interest. Community members may register for the City’s Brownfields E-Newsletter to receive details about the public meeting and other brownfields-related information. Please visit the City’s website at http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/redevelopment-home/133-brownfields-.html and select the “Subscribe” link to be included in this community dialogue.

Press release in PDF – click here

Fort Wayne, IN (PR NewsWire) December 13, 2011–
Announcing a special recognition appearing in the April, 2011 issue of Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly published by KPC Media Group, Inc., Lougheed and Associates was selected for the following honor:

“Largest Engineering Firms”

A spokesperson from Lougheed and Associates commented on the recognition: “This is quite an honor for us. The fact that Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly included Lougheed and Associates in its selection of”Largest Engineering Firms,” signals that our constant efforts towards business excellence are paying off. We are proud to be included in this recognition.”

Following the publication of Lougheed and Associates’s selection for Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly’s Largest Engineering Firms list, American Registry seconded the honor and added Lougheed and Associates to the:

“Registry of Business Excellence”

For more information on Lougheed and Associates, located in Fort Wayne, IN please call 260-432-3665. or visit . We also have an office in Indianapolis, IN. To reach our Indianapolis location. call 317-590-0521.

This press release was written by American Registry, LLC on behalf of Lougheed and Associates and was distributed by PR NewsWire, a subsidiary of United Business Media.American Registry, LLC, recognizes excellence in top businesses and professionals. The Registry™ includes over 2 million significant business and professional recognitions, including all those included in Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly’s Largest Engineering Firms list. For more information, search The Registry at http://www.americanregistry.com/.

Contact Info:
Lougheed and Associates, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Phone: 260-432-3665
Lougheed Engineering, Indianapolis, Indiana
Phone: 317-590-0521

Email Address: info@lougheedengineering.com

2011	2010	2009

Click here to read the full article

Release date: 02/14/2011

WASHINGTON – The Obama Administration today proposed a FY 2012 budget of $8.973 billion for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

This budget proposal represents about a 13 percent decrease from the FY 2010 budget of $10.3 billion.

Some key 2012 budget initiatives include:

$27.5 million increase in enforcement and compliance, allowing for critical investments to increase efficiencies and streamline enforcement by using the latest e-reporting and monitoring tools. EPA will increase oversight and inspections at high risk chemical and oil facilities in order to protect Americans’ health.

$16.1 million more to reduce chemical risks, increase the pace of chemical hazard assessments, and provide the public with greater access to chemical information so they can make better informed decisions about their health. Learning more about these chemicals will help protect Americans from potential threats to their health.

$1.2 billion for state and tribal grants — an overall increase of $84.9 million over FY 2010. This funding will help communities take steps to meet the pollution standards EPA has developed under the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

$584 million to support research and innovation into new and emerging environmental science. This includes a $24.7 million increase to Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grants to ensure that EPA is using the best science to protect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the land we build our communities on. EPA’s research program is being restructured to ensure that scientific work is conducted more efficiently and effectively.

For more information on EPA’s proposed FY2012 budget:
http://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/annualplan/fy2012.html

Under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA currently regulates more than 90 contaminants in drinking water. To keep drinking water standards up-to-date with emerging science, the Safe Drinking Water Act requires that EPA identify up to 30 unregulated contaminants for monitoring every five years.

This current proposal is the third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation and includes requirements to monitor for two viruses and 28 chemical contaminants that could be present in drinking water and do not currently have health-based standards.

For more information on the Safe Water Drinking Act click here.

LUST Brochure

The Indiana Department of Enviornmental Management (IDEM) has posted a newLeaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) brochure for savvy business owners.  You can find this excellent brochure by here - http://www.in.gov/idem/files/lust_tips_for_business_owners_brochure.pdf

Source and reference information:

This information is available at the follow IDEM page under Guidance for Owners and Operators.

IDEM > Environmental Cleanup > Leaking Underground Storage Tanks (LUSTs)