American Center for Mobility at Willow Run / Yankee Air Museum Ypsilanti Township, Michigan American Center for Mobility Yankee Air Museum

A former World War II bomber plant on 335 acres in Ypsilanti Township is being redeveloped into a driverless vehicle testing site with facilitation and co-management by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The redevelopment makes southeast Michigan a national hub for driverless vehicle development and testing. HISTORY REDEVELOPMENT Ford Motor Company built the Willow Run assembly Willow Run’s redevelopment began soon after RACER plant to assemble B-24 Liberator bomber planes for Trust acquired the property from the bankruptcy court. World War II. In 1941, 42,000 people were employed The Yankee Air Museum preserved a section of the at Willow Run, by then the largest factory in the world. Willow Run bomber plant, which will become the Rose Will Monroe, the original Rosie the Riveter, Smithsonian-affiliated National Museum of Aviation worked at Willow Run. She came to symbolize and Technology at Historic Willow Run. Willow Run is thousands of women who worked in jobs traditionally one of ten sites selected by the US Department of held by men to support the war effort. In 1953, Transportation as a testing center for driverless General Motors bought the plant and assembled vehicles. The American Center for Mobility, a public- transmissions there until 2010. The Revitalizing Auto private nonprofit partnership, is building a testing Communities Environmental Response (RACER) Trust facility with a 2.5-mile highway, tunnels, overpasses, was created in March 2011 by the U.S. Bankruptcy intersections, and roundabouts to simulate different Court to manage environmental contamination and driving environments. The site’s location in the heart redevelop Willow Run and other facilities owned by of southeast Michigan’s auto businesses and General Motors. research facilities gave Willow Run a competitive edge. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND REMEDIATION Soil and groundwater were contaminated during OUTCOMES Willow Run’s long manufacturing history. RACER Trust  A portion of the historic bomber plant was is addressing Willow Run’s contamination using a preserved for the National Museum of Aviation $35.8 million fund established by the bankruptcy and Technology court. DEQ and RACER Trust co-manage  A $110 million state-of-the-art vehicle testing, contamination risks and facilitate redevelopment research, and development facility is under while ensuring the fund will keep the site safe construction indefinitely. The DEQ, US Environmental Protection  Economic impact from Willow Run’s reuse will be Agency, and RACER Trust worked together to ensure felt throughout the region that future property owners would be protected from  The DEQ is successfully collaborating with liability for pre-existing contamination. stakeholders to ensure the site is safe now and into the future

517-284-5113 www.michigan.gov/deqbrownfields October 2017 #mibrownfields