Antioch, 4 other towns receive EPA grants

Five Illinois communities have received grants totaling $1.6 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assess and clean up polluted sites.

The villages of Antioch and Midlothian, the cities of Ottawa and Rockford and Stephenson County will use the money to determine the extent of pollution at various sites and how they might be cleaned up and reused.

Rockford got the biggest grant — $600,000 to clean up and monitor groundwater at 7.5 acres on South Main Street, including an old train depot contaminated with heavy metals.

The EPA says the grants will help clean up contaminated sites to protect public health but also so communities can redevelop the sites to boost local economies and create jobs.

The agency awarded $69.3 million nationwide for so-called brownfield sites.