Feds give $200,000 for cleanup contaminated Chicago site

CHICAGO (AP) - The federal government is providing $200,000 to clean up a site in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood on Chicago's southwest side.

U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin say the money will be spent to help eliminate toxic pollutants from a 3.2-acre (1.3-hectare) site where there are plans to build a public health care facility called the Focal Point Community Campus. The area was left contaminated by an industrial facility that once operated there.

The grant is provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Brownfields Program. The national program provides money to those working to assess and safely clean contaminated properties whose expansion and reuse is made more difficult by hazardous substances or pollution.

Duckworth says the effort is critical to spur development and create jobs in disadvantaged communities.