By Neil Johnson, WCLO Radio

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U.S. Congressman Bryan Steil said at a town hall meeting in Janesville on Wednesday that he’d lend Congressional support to any federal government grant that could help cleanup at Janesville’s former General Motors property, a 250-acre, contaminated brownfield site that’s privately owned by St. Louis real estate holding company Commercial Development.

But for now, Steil says, federal involvement likely will take a backseat to local, state and private re-development efforts.

“There’s a ton of overlap between the federal government or state government and local government. Our (Janesville) city council’s probably more impactful on this in any other government entity and making sure these things are moving forward,” Steil said. “There is a role for the federal government. We have some some programs that that are involved in particular for serious environmental cleanup work, a lot of which has been done here at the GM location. But making sure that we are investing in this new type of industrial park is a huge deal. Often, that’s best served at the local level.”

Janesville Economic Development director Jimsi Kuborn says right now, there are no available federal grant programs for brownfield redevelopment at the largely concrete and rubble-covered former GM site. But she said a recently-hired consultant to the city is now scouring state environmental reports on both the 127-acre main GM site, and the former Jatco haul-away yard to the south.

Kuborn said that consultant is reviewing environmental liabilities that Commercial Development and a developer might uncover in a proposal to turn part of the Jatco site into a small-scale, rail-to-truck intermodal site.

Some federal environmental cleanup grant programs, particularly EPA programs, require comprehensive cleanup measures, while others require municipalities or nonprofits to be conduits for such funding. Commercial Development, a private owner, has opted to keep rubble and concrete in place on the ground, in part as a cap to prevent release of possible contamination underneath–but also as potential slabs that could provide a foundation for future development.

In an interview earlier this week on WCLO Radio, Kuborn told morning talk show host Tim Bremel that both the main GM and Jatco sites have ongoing environmental liabilities that could have to be addressed if and when a developer proposed to move or disturb concrete or rubble for redevelopment.