Using the Florida Brownfields Program, the City of Ft. Myers has cleaned up and transformed the contaminated site of a former coal gasification plant into
a new community asset, "Imaginarium." The campus includes a children’s museum, theater, outdoor pavilion, lagoon system and emergency operations center.
TALLAHASSEE
—The
Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently released the
Florida Brownfields Redevelopment Program Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2010 -
2011. Submitted each year to the Governor, President of the Senate and Speaker
of the House of Representatives, the report describes DEP’s progress and level
of activity in implementing the Florida Brownfields Redevelopment Act. The
report documents the Program’s continued success in revitalizing brownfield
areas despite current economic challenges.
“The
Florida Brownfields Program empowers communities, local governments and other
stakeholders to work together to assess, clean up and reuse sites that have been
previously impacted by pollutants,” said DEP Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard Jr.
“Once the cleanup is complete and the site is redeveloped, brownfields can
significantly benefit local economies through job creation and capital
investment opportunities.”
Brownfields
are properties where expansion, redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the
presence or potential presence of environmental pollution. Established in 1997,
the Florida Brownfields Redevelopment Program utilizes economic and regulatory
incentives to encourage the use of private revenue to clean up and redevelop
sites, create new jobs and enhance the local economy. To make the program’s
incentives available to a community, a local government must designate a
brownfields area by resolution. Currently, 279 brownfield areas have been
designated statewide, some of which are located in economically depressed
neighborhoods.
Program
highlights from July 2010 through June 2011 include:
- From January 2010 through December 2010, 2,372 projected new direct jobs, 3,057 projected new indirect jobs and over $128 million in projected new capital investment were attributable to the Program. To date in calendar year 2011, 1,556 projected new direct jobs, 1,312 projected new indirect jobs and $76 million in projected new capital investment are attributable to the Program.
- Sixteen municipalities and county governments approved local resolutions that designated 17 additional brownfield areas.
- Thirteen brownfield site rehabilitation agreements were executed, bringing the program total to 159.
- Ten brownfield sites completed cleanup of contamination. Forty-seven brownfield sites have completed cleanup since inception of the program.
- DEP received 40 tax credit applications totaling almost $5 million for site rehabilitation work completed at brownfields sites in 2010.
To
view the report, please visit: