Grant To Help Alton Steel Keep Taps On Contamination

A $28,950 grant from the city of Alton, Ill.’s tax increment financing district fund will help Alton Steel Inc. monitor groundwater for contaminants stored or buried on the site.

The water samples will be drawn four times a year from wells on site. The testing, which will contribute to the site assessment and possibly a cleanup plan, also will document the groundwater gradient or any rate of change.

The Alton City Council approved a resolution March 10 giving the go-ahead for the grant.

Alton will reimburse the company for the costs of analyzing the samples, administration, field activities, compiling a report and other expenses incurred at the brownfield site, formerly Laclede Steel Co.

"This will free up their capital to do other things, like make steel," said Phil Roggio, Alton director of development and housing.

Roggio said smaller grants he recently announced for properties in the riverfront tax increment financing district are available for qualified applicants.

Representatives from Alton Steel had requested an Illinois Brownfields Assistance Grant, but the city had dedicated that money to moving the Norfolk-Southern Railroad tracks at Alton Center Business Park, Roggio said.

Plans had been to move the tracks, which run along Broadway, under the Indiana Avenue extension overpass after it is built. However, Roggio recently said the tracks would be diverted along the east end of the park, owned by Clark Properties of St. Louis. The change also means the new route no longer would involve Alton Steel’s property, he said.

"We are working overtime in both departments, and we are training with double manning," said Mel Cook, president and chief executive officer of Alton Steel. "We bring 45 to 50 rail cars of scrap and other supplies to the mill weekly. Well over 100 trucks are going out every week of materials we’ve made, and 10 to 15 rail cars. We feel real good about what’s taking place at Alton Steel and what it’s doing for the community." Alton (Illinois) Telegraph