December 2022 • Journal of Environmental Health 33 bile gas and service station and a vacant, deteriorated hotel (Figures 12 and 13). The My Environment website indicated three brownfields in Holbrook (U.S. EPA, 2020d). Our tour host in Holbrook was Dave Laney, an experienced licensed environmental professional. Laney indicated that the city has been unsuccessful in securing U.S. EPA brownfields funding to clean up significant petroleum contamination in the groundwater from numerous automobile service and gasoline stations that are vacant. Laney also relayed that there are numerous vacant commercial and residential properties suspected to have lead-based paint and vapor intrusion issues due to the petroleum plume at a shallow depth below ground level (D. Laney, personal communication, June 18, 2019). Holbrook is one of the communities in the Route 66 Partnership organized by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Launched in 2004, the partnership is a network of local, state, and federal agencies and organizations that helps communities identify resources for assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment at current and former leaking underground storage tank sites, abandoned gas stations, and other underutilized sites along Route 66 in Northern Arizona (U.S. EPA, 2011). Brownfields in Northwest Indiana We concluded our U.S. brownfields tour in Northwest Indiana, visiting the former industrial cities of Gary and East Chicago in what is known as the Calumet Region in Lake County, Indiana (Figures 14 and 15). Despite its industrial past that was heavily focused on steel production and chemical plants, the Calumet Region is home to the Indiana Dunes National Shoreline, several wetlands, and rare natural areas (Calumet Heritage Partnership, 2022). Demographic indicators for Gary, East Chicago, and Lake County are summarized in Table 3. Gary is nearly 3 times the size of East Chicago. Both cities are racially diverse. Gary’s majority population is 78% Black, and East Chicago’s majority population is 58% Hispanic or Latino and 36% Black. In contrast, the population of Lake County is primarily White (71%). The median household income in Gary and East Chicago is approximately $35,000 and $31,000, respectively, which is below the county’s median household income of approximately $57,000. In Gary, 33% of the population is in poverty; in East Chicago, 31% of the population is in poverty. In Lake County, 16% of the population is in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021b). The Grand Calumet River runs throughout the Calumet Region. It is one of the Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOC) under the Great Lakes National Program O¢ce within U.S. EPA (U.E. EPA, 2022b). AOCs have experienced significant environmental degradation. The Grand Calumet AOC has legacy contamination that includes polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); heavy metals including but not limited to mercury, cadmium, chromium, and lead; and oil and grease (U.S. EPA, 2022c). The My Environment website indicated 2 Superfund and 34 known brownfield sites in Gary and 1 Superfund and 16 known brownfield sites in East Chicago (U.S. EPA, 2020e, 2020f). There are, however, additional numerous vacant sites, including old gas stations, multiunit residential buildings, schools, parking structures, and homes in both cities. Coauthor Lloyd DeGrane began photographing land reuse sites in the region in 2009 and continues to document and archive the Fenced Structure Within Proposed Vendor Village Site (Left) and Proposed Vendor Village Site Tour and Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Conducted by Licensed Environmental Professional Dave Laney (Right) in Chinle, Arizona FIGURE 10 Landscape of the 103-Acre Navajo Forest Products Industry Site in Navajo, New Mexico FIGURE 11 Vacant Automobile Service and Repair Station in Holbrook, Arizona FIGURE 12 Vacant and Deteriorated Hotel in Holbrook, Arizona FIGURE 13
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTU5MTM=