Asheville, NC - Seeking relief: CTS neighbors file lawsuit

The Mountain Express (Andrew, 2/23) reported that "Residents who live near the contaminated former CTS facility on Mills Gap Road have waited for years for cleanup, and as the time draws closer for EPA’s review of the site for inclusion on the National Priorities List (which would place it among the most severely contaminated sites in the U.S.), residents have decided to wait no longer. A group of 16 individuals and families filed suit against the Elkhart, Ind.-based corporation yesterday in federal court. Complainants include Tate MacQueen, spokesperson with the advocacy group Citizen’s Monitoring Council, which has worked to get the issue noticed and addressed, and Lee Ann Smith, whose young sons were treated for cancer after they were exposed to high levels of contaminants in a stream flowing from the CTS property near their home."

[MORE]

Midland, TX - CVS Pharmacy approaches city about Municipal Setting Designation for groundwater contamination

The Midland Reporter Telegraph (Thurber, 2/22) reported that "City council members said Tuesday they'll continue to research after receiving a request from CVS Pharmacy to support its efforts at being given a Municipal Setting Designation. The designation, which is one provided by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, would allow the pharmacy to address groundwater contamination issues at its Andrews Highway store at a quicker and more cost effective rate than would otherwise be possible, said Jill Reed, assistant director of utilities at the city of Midland."

[MORE]

Panama City, FL - City designates old depot a brownfield site

The Walton Sun (Helgoth, 2/22) reported that "Declaring a piece of property a brownfield site could come with a stigma, but the city hopes it also comes with enough incentives to make the old train depot property more marketable. Tuesday, city commissioners voted to designate the old train depot property on Sixth Street a brownfield site. City Attorney Rowlette Bryant said the brownfield designation — which is applied to property where expansion, redevelopment or reuse is complicated by actual or perceived contamination — gives property owners access to credits to build.

In 2007 the Bay Line Railroad Depot was being torn down when it was destroyed by fire. Plans at that time called for developing the site and land around it with a mix of residential and commercial areas.
Those plans seem to be on the back burner. Dwight Hicks, a Realtor who also offers brokerage and real estate consulting services, is managing the sale of the property. He said the designation will be a benefit for the property owner because it opens doors for financial incentives. Tax credits are available for voluntary clean up and for job creation, said Alex Webster, brownfield program coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Protection. He said a potential downside for the designation is the stigma. In this case there are some environmental issues on the property 'but not so great the property can’t be redeveloped,' he said."

For more information on the program, visit www.dep.state.fl.us.

The South Reporter (Watson, 2/24) reported that "a number of leaders in the business community and government were introduced to the Brownfield Program, a project that assesses site cleanup issues in local communities.Jere 'Trey' Hess, program coordinator with Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, office of pollution control, introduced the program driven by federal grant monies. Local governments must apply for the grants and make a case for the need to assess sites for potential toxicity or pollution, Hess said. Mississippi has not been getting its share of the grants, he said, and MDEQ wants to remedy that. He said the very competitive grant process, which sees 700 applications a year and makes about 200 awards, is not seeing successful applications from the state. One in three applications nationwide are accepted while only one in 23 applications from Mississippi are awarded.

The problem, partly, is with the quality of the grant application and lack of lead time in preparing applications, he said. “There is real estate out there where there is a perception that there is an issue with contamination,” Hess said. “It could be an old gas station, an old dry cleaner, an old pest control site, an old co-op, even an old hotel that has asbestos, pigeon poop and underground heating oil tanks.” The catch is that banks require a new business going into an old property to sometimes get a Phase I environmental assessment, before the bank will give a loan. The environmental assessment is similar to a home inspection required for a home loan. The banks want to make sure they are not loaning out money on a lemon.

[Last year] twelve communities in Mississippi [applied] for Brownfields grants – places like Hernando, South Delta Planning and Development District, Lauderdale County, Moss Point, Philadelphia and Shuqualak. Not a lot of communities in the northeast and north-central areas of the state have applied for these assessment grants. Hess was in town at the invitation of alderman Harvey Payne.

'Lots of cities use old plants and places to redevelop city centers,” Hess said. “We are working to get communities interested. The Mississippi Municipal League and mayors are interested. We know about the big bad sites in the state. Holly Springs does not have any.”  The assessment of potential toxic waste sites in Holly Springs can be included in the update of the master plan to help decide if there are any potential pitfalls in the plan, Hess said. Brownfields grants are an effort by the EPA to look at the sustainability of whole communities. Building a network with other agencies like the Mississippi Department of Transportation, Mississippi Development Authority, EPA and Main Street helps small communities to get going. He encouraged the city and county to work together and build on community programs.Help with grant writing will be offered at the MML mayor’s conference in June. Areas apply for the grant in October and grants are awarded the following April. The goal should be to redevelop an area and to find money to do it, Hess said. The Brownfields grant looks to find any sites that need cleaning up but allows no dollars toward the cleanup itself. But the estimate lets leaders know what problems they have and how much it will cost to clean it up.

Dr. Charlotte L. Keys, executive director of the foundation, “Jesus People Against Pollution,” in Columbia, said community involvement is the key to building grassroots consensus on problem solving.“Any successful city and county governments are successful because they understand the need for collaboration and cohesiveness,” Keys said. “No one needs to be left out.” A superfund waste site in Columbia was headed into widespread litigation when the community decided to mitigate rather than litigate, she said. Keys said she is working on a summit - a community involvement and engagement summit labeled “Environmental Justice.”

I’ve traveled the world and there is no place like home,” Keys said. “Everybody needs equal access to have clean air and water and no one’s property needs to be contaminated.” The Reichold Chemical site was the superfund site in Columbia. The company had buried thousands of drums of chemical waste at an 81-acre site in Marion County after purchasing the property from a company that had operated a wood derivatives plant. The property had been used for that purpose for about 50 years with various owner/operators. An explosion at the Reichold facility after two years operation in 1977 destroyed most of the process facility. An EPA investigation discovered 600 surface drums, two contaminated on-site ponds and several areas of contaminated soil. The site was removed from the National Priorities List of sites in 2000 after the chemical company and previous owners of the site performed all the required cleanup and testing, including showing that ground water is not endangered now. JPAP, which formed in 1992, was one of the most active community organizations in community outreach and was awarded a technical assistance grant for the site.

Payne said an old lagoon on Rising Star Road could be turned back to greenspace or a recreational area. Old lagoons could be possible properties to be considered for site assessments, he said. Hess said old buildings that the community wants to rehabilitate would also be potential sites to assess for asbestos contamination. “The start of this is to tell your community story,” he said. “You must tell a story that differentiates you from the other 700 applicants out there.”

Gainesville, GA -

The Gainesville (GA) Times (2/19, Crist) reported, "After 10 years of planning and designing, Gainesville's greenway is close to fruition. Though physical progress was stagnant during the winter months, visible changes will pop up again in late March as crews plant trees along the midtown trail. This summer, workers also will transform parts of the CSX railroad maintenance yard into a stage area. By the end of 2011, city officials will complete the greenway with signs, benches, trash cans and marked street crossings for safety.

Dillon, SC - Environmental Sampling Begins

Environmental sampling has begun at the Rownd & Sons Property located along Martin Luther King Boulevard in Dillon, South Carolina.
Don't be alarmed to see workers in hard hats and latex gloves working around the Rownd & Sons Property in Dillon, South Carolina. They are part of a team of environmental workers conducting environmental sampling across the former basket factory property.
Soil and groundwater samples are being collected and analyzed for a variety of constituents to determine if there has been an impact to the immediate environment. These constituents vary from polychlorinated biphynels (PCBs) to semi-volatiles and metals.
Workers are expected to be in the field for the duration of the week and into the next. Once the samples have been collected, they will undergo laboratory analysis, which takes several weeks. Final results from this sampling effort are expected to be ready sometime in March.

Solar Powering Your Community: A Guide for Local Government

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently released a revised second edition of Solar Powering Your Community: A Guide for Local Governments, a comprehensive resource for communities looking to accelerate their adoption of solar energy technologies and capture these benefits. The guide is intended to help communities better understand the steps necessary to permit and license solar energy installations and how to streamline those processes, which can deliver significant cost savings.  It also offers guidance for communities on how to develop a plan for expanding their solar energy use and examines ways for local governments to tailor their approach to implementing solar projects based on their community context.  The guide makes recommendations in the following seven areas:

1. Organizing and Strategizing a Local Solar Effort – Organizing strategically around solar energy goals will help communities make the best choices when it comes to solar.
2. Making Solar Affordable for Residents and Businesses – Financial incentives and financing mechanisms, such as rebates and grants, help make solar more affordable for residents and businesses, bolstering local market demand. 
3. Updating and Enforcing Local Rules and Regulations – Updating and streamlining local rules and regulations, such as permitting and inspection, can help reduce the costs of solar installations and improve the local market environment. 
4. Improving Utility Policies and Procedures – Utilities are key partners in increasing the adoption of solar technologies in local communities, and utilities can play a key role in facilitating solar adoption through interconnection standards, net-metering rules, and rate structures.
5.  Creating Jobs and Supporting Economic Development – Local governments can play a role in the growth of the domestic renewable energy industry by partnering with solar companies and developing workforce development programs.
6. Educating and Empowering Local Customers – Engaging community stakeholders through outreach activities can promote local solar adoption by increasing consumer knowledge and confidence.
7. Leading by Example with Installations on Government Properties – Integrating solar energy technologies into government facilities can encourage residents and businesses to adopt solar energy systems.

SOURCE: ICMA

Advocacy Alert - House Appropriations Committee Cuts $49 Million from EPA Brownfields Budget

From the National Brownfield Coalition:

The House Appropriations Committee cut the EPA Brownfields Program by $49 million relative to the President's FY 2011 budget. This action (announced here) is consistent with the the Republican Study Committee recommendations to cut most domestic programs to FY 2008 appropriations levels.

For the EPA Brownfields Program that would mean a budget of $166 million, $49 million lower than the President's budget and $34 million less than the Senate budget that was passed in November, 2010.

For the HUD BEDI and HUD 108 programs, the Republican Budget recommends elimination, along with the entire CDBG Program. 

The National Brownfields Coalition has posted the members of the House appropriations Committee and urges interested parties to write letters in support of appropriations for these vital programs.  The Coalition's FY 11 appropriations letters are also posted for EPA Brownfields and HUD Brownfields.

Coalition partner the National Association of Development Organizations is spearheading an effort to support funding for EDA programs which are also targeted for elimination. 

EPA Must Implement Controls to Ensure Proper Investigations Are Conducted at Brownfields Sites

EPA Must Implement Controls to Ensure Proper Investigations Are
Conducted at Brownfields Sites

U.S. EPA Office of Inspector General
Report No. 11-P-0107
February 14, 2011

At a Glance

What We Found

EPA does not review AAI [All Appropriate Inquiries] reports submitted by
grantees to assure that they comply with federal requirements. Rather,
EPA has relied on the environmental professional conducting the AAI to
self-certify that requirements are met. Of the 35 AAI reports we
reviewed, from three EPA regions, none contained all the required
documentation elements. This occurred because the Agency does not have
management controls requiring EPA project officers to conduct oversight
of AAI reports. Management controls regarding EPA oversight of
Brownfields grants funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
of 2009 (ARRA) are also missing. EPA has issued specific guidance and
management controls for ARRA grant activities. However, the guidance and
controls do not address oversight of AAI reports.

Because of EPA's lack of oversight and reliance on environmental
professionals' self-certifications, AAI investigations not meeting
federal requirements may go undetected by Agency staff. The Office of
Inspector General found instances of noncompliance that were not
detected by Agency staff. Improper AAI investigations introduce risk
that the environmental conditions of a property have not been properly
or adequately assessed, which may lead to improper decisions about
appropriate uses of brownfields properties. Ultimately, threats to human
health and the environment could go unrecognized.

Noncompliant AAI investigations may result in future grant denials and
possible government reimbursement. The AAI reports the OIG reviewed were
generated from $2.14 million in grant awards. If conditions merit, EPA
is authorized to take back funds from noncompliant grantees. The OIG
questions the value of the reports we reviewed.

What We Recommend

We recommend that EPA establish accountability for compliant AAI
reports, to include those conducted under ARRA Brownfields grants;
develop a plan to review AAI reports to determine the reports'
compliance with AAI documentation requirements; and establish criteria
to determine whether noncompliant grantees should return federal grant
money. The Agency did not clearly agree or disagree with OIG
recommendations. In its final response to the report, the Agency needs
to agree or disagree with recommendations and, as appropriate, provide a
corrective action plan to address the recommendations.



To download the full 19-page 140 KB report, go to
http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2011/20110214-11-P-0107.pdf

Spartanburg, North Carolina, Discussing Downtown Redevelopment

WSPA-TV Asheville, NC (2/14, Moore) reported, "The Spartanburg City Council will give first reading Monday night to a five-year project concerning the redevelopment of downtown." The plan consists of developing "a new urban code -- which, for example, would limit the amount of street-level office space. Instead, the code would call for more retail space." The "core focus" of this code will be to bring "mixed-use development to downtown." 

Spartanburg's Downtown Master Plan - http://www.cityofspartanburg.org/index.cfm?PageID=140

Carroll Co. Georgia - Identifies Brownfield Areas

[SOURCE: Times-Georgian.com]

The seven commissioners of the city’s Urban Redevelopment Agency were sworn in Wednesday and, after preliminary introductions, went straight to work. The agency is tasked with overseeing redevelopment activities within several targeted areas in the city.  Gilbert led discussion on opportunity zones, identifying five distinct areas: the Highway 78/Bright Star Road area, which includes among others Gurley and S. Flat Rock roads; Municipal Parkway, including the flea market and property on the old Atlanta Concrete site; industrial properties on Odessa Place; the Thornton Road area, including 380,000 square feet of space soon to be vacated by Nioxin; and redevelopment of a residential tract on Ga. Highway 92 into a business park between Malone and Maroney Mill roads.  Commissioners also discussed downtown initiatives, an opportunity zone and Community Development Block Grant applications, Brownfield funding and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs’ “Hardest Hit Fund,” a grant to help some homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Read more: Times-Georgian - Agency names city areas for redevelopment

Richmond Hill City Center in Georgia honoured for green credentials

[SOURCE: WIDN]

The Richmond Hill City Center, a 22800 square feet full-service venue for meetings, events and weddings in Richmond Hill, Georgia, has been awarded a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.  The City Center is studded with a host of sustainable features. They constitute parking for low-emission and fuel-efficient vehicles; the use of light-coloured pervious paving to reduce heat-island effect and reduce storm water impact; use of bio-filtration and natural bio-swales to clean and reduce storm water impact; Brownfield Redevelopment by reclaiming a former sewage treatment plant site; landscape design by a LEED-Accredited professional landscape architect; spray foam insulation; and the use of grassed parking areas for overflow to reduce paved areas.

 [MORE]

Talladega, AL - Brownfield Grant News

[SOURCE]: In recent meetings of the City Planning Commission, the Community Development Corporation, and the Redevelopment Authority, Greg Clark of Central Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission has described grants that his agency has obtained for the City.  Other grant applications are in progress.  The approved grants address significant needs.  A Brownfields Grant application for $292,300 that has already been filed deals with cleanup of hazardous materials and petroleum-based products but is very beneficial for redevelopment planning.  One significant final grant especially for the Community Development Corporation and the Redevelopment Authority is a $50,000 planning grant.  It will be of assistance in developing action plans, including town center redevelopment concepts, streetscape improvement, alternative transportation, and capital improvements. Other grant applications are being considered and developed. 

[MORE]

Gainesville, FL - Final Cleanup Plan Approved for Cabot Carbon/Koppers Superfund Site

Final Cleanup Plan Approved for Cabot Carbon/Koppers Superfund Site in Gainesville, Fla.

 

Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421, harris-young.dawn@epa.gov

 

(ATLANTA – Feb. 2, 2011) A final cleanup plan, formalized in a document known as the Record of Decision (ROD), has been signed by EPA for the Cabot Carbon/Koppers Superfund Site in Gainesville, Fla. The ROD outlines how the Potentially Responsible Party (PRP) Beazer East will be required to address soil, sediment, groundwater and surface water contamination from the site. EPA will oversee the work to ensure all the cleanup goals are met and, once cleanup is complete, the site will be ready for reuse as commercial, industrial, recreational or mixed-use with a residential component.

 

EPA undertook a comprehensive four-year public involvement process that included over 22 opportunities for the public to provide input on the agency’s proposed plans, encompassing site tours, participation in City of Gainesville/Alachua County public meetings, public availability sessions and community interviews. The ROD reflects many changes made following receipt of input from the community, as well as the City of Gainesville, the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department, the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. PRP Beazer East has committed to work with local citizens and local government entities to redevelop the site.

 

To address off- and on-site contamination, the ROD specifies:

•       Nearby residential and commercial properties where soil contamination is indentified will be cleaned up to the most conservative standard based on appropriate land use (e.g., residential properties will be cleaned up to meet stringent residential standards).

•       The sediment from contaminated hot spots along Hogtown and Springstead Creeks will be excavated, removed and replaced with clean sediment, and the recovery of the creeks will be monitored.

•       An impermeable engineered cap will be placed over the contaminated soil consolidation area on the site.

•       A 65-foot deep vertical barrier wall will be installed below the engineered cap that will encompass the four source areas of contamination.

•       Within the former Process Area and South Lagoon source areas, chemical treatment injections will be used that react with contaminants to reduce, encapsulate and solidify them.

•       Within the North Lagoon and Drip Track Area source areas, subsurface soils will be mixed with a solidifying agent to a depth of 65-feet to prevent contaminants from leaching into groundwater.

•       In the deeper portions of the Hawthorn Aquifer, chemical treatment will be used to render contaminated groundwater harmless.

•       In the Upper Floridan Aquifer, where Gainesville’s drinking water is withdrawn, contaminated groundwater will be pumped, treated and discharged into the Gainesville Regional Utility wastewater treatment plant.

•       Additional monitoring wells will be installed throughout the Upper Floridan Aquifer and sampled regularly to effectively monitor conditions within the aquifer. Should conditions change, additional containment and treatment of contaminated groundwater will take place.

•       A minimum of two feet of clean soil will be placed over all impacted soils on the property to prevent direct contact and support reuse.

 

The Cabot Carbon/Koppers Site included the Koppers Wood Treating Company, located at 200 NW 23rd Avenue in Gainesville that operated from 1916 until 2009. During its operation, the facility treated utility poles with creosote, pentachlorophenol and copper-chromated arsenic.

 

The ROD and the Administrative Record, a compilation of documents which form the basis for EPA’s selection of the remedy, will be made available through the Information Repository for the site at the Alachua County Public Library, 401 E. University Avenue in Gainesville.

 

The complete ROD and other site documents are available online at: http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/npl/nplfln/cabkopfl.htm

University of Georgia - Youtube Brownfield Production

FREE WEBINAR - Protect Your Bank From Vapor Intrusion Liability

Wednesday, February 16, 1:00-2:00 EST

Who should attend: Risk managers at national, international, regional and community banks, SBA lenders, national opportunity funds, institutional investors with high tenant exposure, debt and b-piece buyers, CMBS players, and life insurance lenders.

Meeting Description:

Vapor intrusion, also called vapor encroachment, is an indoor air quality issue that is creating liability for borrowers and, in the case of foreclosures, their lenders. Over the past few years, regulatory actions by the U.S. EPA and state environmental agencies, coupled with a growing number of class action lawsuits, have brought vapor intrusion to the forefront. Environmental attorneys are encouraging banks and purchasers to assess vapor intrusion risk up front, and new tools are emerging to allow vapor intrusion risk to be screened easily and cost-effectively. Great news: In just one hour, you can learn everything you need to know to start protecting your bank—and your borrowers—from vapor intrusion liability.

What you’ll learn:  

►  What vapor intrusion is, and why it has become such a hot button issue

►  The current state of the lending sector’s awareness of vapor intrusion

►  Why attorneys are encouraging lenders to proactively minimize their exposure to vapor intrusion risk

►  Which properties pose the greatest risk of litigation

►  How lenders are incorporating vapor intrusion into their environmental policies

►  Which screening methodology is becoming the preferred evaluation approach

►  What VI means for lenders that are revisiting older loans—even those that were subject to environmental due diligence on origination

►  What convinced one lender to recently revise his bank’s policy to require vapor intrusion screens

Speakers:

Dianne Crocker, managing director, EDR’s Market Research Group
Anthony Buonicore, P.E., DEE, The Buonicore Group
Brendan Lowrey, Esq., Thompson & Knight LLP
Mike Tartanella, Environmental Risk Specialist-AVP, Capital One Bank

Host: Dianne Crocker
Date: February 16, 2011
Time: 1:00 PM EST

Dianne Crocker is a senior economist and managing director of EDR's Market Research Group. Responsible for providing EDR’s clients with strategic data and analysis on environmental due diligence trends, Ms. Crocker gives presentations about environmental risk at industry conferences and client workshops across the country. She is a frequent contributor to leading commercial real estate, lending and environmental magazines, and her column, "Inside the Industry," appears monthly in EM, the magazine of the Air & Waste Management Association.

Brendan Lowrey an attorney with Thompson & Knight, focuses his practice on permitting, compliance counseling, and administrative and judicial litigation in environmental matters before local, state, and federal environmental agencies and state and federal courts. He represents clients in various industry and commercial sectors, including construction, steel, recycling operations, petroleum refining, organic chemicals, oil and gas exploration and production, transportation, medical, and real estate development.

 
Anthony Buonicore, P.E., is president of the Buonicore Group, a real estate and energy/environmental risk management consulting company. A past president and Fellow Member of the Air & Waste Management Association, Mr. Buonicore is also a Diplomat in the American Academy of Environmental Engineers, a Qualified Environmental Professional, and a licensed professional engineer. He is a member of the ASTM Property Environmental Due Diligence committee, former chairman of its ASTM Phase I Task Group, and currently chairs the ASTM Task Group that developed the U.S. standard for vapor intrusion assessment in real estate transactions.

SIGN UP HERE - http://www.edrnet.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=555&Itemid=51

Brownfield Tip of the Month (February) - Connect Brownfields with Community Revitalization Priorities

Communities will succeed in brownfield revitalization when they consider these properties as
community and economic opportunities that happen to have an environmental challenge, and connect
their brownfield initiatives to the broader community vision and revitalization priorities. If the citizens
and leadership of the community have identified priorities such as affordable housing, the attraction of
retail and commercial businesses, the creation of parks and recreational spaces, the renewal of a local
waterfront, or the reverse of blight in particular neighborhoods — brownfields should be viewed as
places for these opportunities, rather than places to avoid and forget about.

A community that considers a brownfield in terms of the community's economic, real estate and
community revitalization potential — rather than only as a pricey pollution problem — will be better
able to attract political leadership, organize partners and allies, obtain resources, establish workable
cleanup strategies, and build citizen confidence. This approach to brownfields turns them from liabilities
into potential assets. This approach creates the atmosphere of cross-sector and cross-disciplinary
cooperation that is essential to brownfield success. Under this revitalization approach, local
communities can fit the challenge of environmental contamination into a larger framework that can
help overcome that challenge.

The City of Stamford, Connecticut is an excellent example of a locality that has used brownfields as an
opportunity to achieve larger community revitalization goals — to expand its public transit
infrastructure, restore the Long Island Sound and Mill River waterfront for public enjoyment, create
new market rate and affordable housing, and attract business investment. Rather than shirk Stamford's
contaminated brownfields, Stamford has considered its brownfields as prime real estate for
revitalization, and used the brownfields aspect of these sites to obtain substantial funding and support
from government and the private sector.

Other examples of communities that have effectively used brownfields as a tool to enhance their
ongoing community revitalization priorities include the following:

-Portland, Oregon's brownfields strategy focuses on redeveloping old warehouses, gas
stations, dry cleaners, and other blighted properties that are impacting the City's most
disadvantaged neighborhoods.

-St. Paul, Minnesota's brownfields strategy is focused on attracting new commercial and
industrial business that will provide high wage jobs for City residents.

-Salt Lake City, Utah and Bridgeport, Connecticut are using their brownfields programs to
help leverage substantial federal and state funding for light rail, transit centers, and roads
essential to the revitalization of their communities.

-Providence, Rhode Island and Kansas City, Missouri have integrated the development of
riverfront greenways into their brownfields programs and leveraged substantial support for
these efforts.

-Glen Cove, New York; East Palo Alto, California; Des Moines, Iowa and numerous other
communities are rediscovering the value of their waterfronts and conducting major
revitalization of these underutilized areas that were once home to the industries of the past.

-Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon have integrated their brownfields strategies with
their efforts to provide a wide range of urban housing options, in terms of style and
affordability.

Many localities have missed out on the potential for brownfields revitalization because they have
considered these properties only as polluted sites, or even perceived them as potential Superfund-type
problems. However, in at least one-third of the brownfields sites that have been investigated using EPA
brownfields funding, there was no contamination at all. In most cases where there is brownfield
contamination, it has typically proved to be manageable, when put into the larger context of a
community revitalization project. Communities can connect brownfields to their broader revitalization
priorities and opportunities by:

-Fitting the environmental challenges of brownfields into the larger vision and goals of the
local community in terms of economic development, urban renewal and beautification,
infrastructure upgrades, infill housing, historic preservation, land use or other revitalization
initiatives.

-Engaging local, state and federal government economic development programs and
resources in the brownfields challenge, by showing economic development partners that
every dollar invested in brownfields revitalization can yield major returns through increased
property values, enhanced tax base, and job creation. The Brownfields Performance
Evaluation Report, by the International Economic Development Council, found that every
dollar of government funding invested in brownfields projects yields, on average, 2.5 dollars
in private sector investment.

-Realizing the community and economic benefits of turning brownfields into parks, open
space and green infrastructure. New community green space can create an economic
premium for adjacent commercial and retail development and generate the spin-off
development that can result from the replacement of blight with community amenities.
Brownfields revitalization offers the opportunity for truly sustainable development that
meets environmental, economic, and community goals. By connecting brownfields to these
broader opportunities, communities can achieve their community revitalization objectives.
Brownfields revitalization offers the opportunity for truly sustainable development that meets
environmental, economic, and community goals. By connecting brownfields to these broader
opportunities, communities can achieve their community revitalization objectives.

Further Resources:
-Brownfields Redevelopment: Performance Evaluation, International Economic Development Council
(1999)
-Converting Brownfields to Greenspace, International Economic Development Council (2001)
-Growing Greener: Revitalizing Brownfields Into Greenspace, by Danielle Miller Wagner and Riti Dhesi,
-International City/County Management Association (2002)
-From Brownfields to Housing: Opportunities, Issues, and Answers, by Danielle Schopp, Northeast-
Midwest Institute (2003)
-Coordinating Brownfields Redevelopment and Local Housing Initiatives, International City/County
Management Association (2003)
-Old Tools and New Measures: Local Government Coordination of Brownfields Redevelopment for
Historic and Cultural Reuses, by Molly Singer and Adam Ploetz, International City/County Management
Association (2002)
-www.smartgrowthamerica.org - National Vacant Properties Campaign