City of Elkhart applies for funding to redevelop Old Historic Roundhouse

ELKHART, Ind. -- The City of Elkhart Redevelopment Department is applying for funding through the EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant in order to address and redevelop contaminants at the Historic Old Roundhouse located in the Benham West Neighborhood.

The city is applying for $4 million in grant money for the cleanup; the application will be submitted by the end of January.

A Brownfield is a property containing hazardous substances which typically require environmental assessment and remediation.

Previously being a railroad hub, the Old Roundhouse site contains high levels of arsenic and lead contaminants in the soil.

The Roberts Environmental Services Team is leading the environmental analysis and cleanup for the site.

It is expected that there is 35,000 to 60,000 tons of impacted soil to be disposed of off-site if the grant is approved.

Senior hydrogeologist at Roberts Environmental Services, Dave Jeffers, said, "Well, once we get hopefully, we get the grant approved, and once that happens, we're thinking it's probably going to take about eight to 12 weeks to dig it all up, and then that includes bringing the clean soils back in to fill everything in."