Most businesses or public institutions don’t have “Brownfields Departments”. Brownfield related activities are typically handled by a few individuals working within more established work structures (e.g., Community Development Department, Remediation Group). Institutional knowledge is kept within a few people. What happens to this knowledge when key staff leave?

This article explores recent technology advancements for effective record keeping that can be applied to brownfield projects. Good record keeping will make transitions easier if key staff leaves.

The Electronic Shift
The shift is clearly toward electronic records and record keeping:

• Geographic information systems,
• Web-based project management, and
• Public Internet access for information.

Geographic information systems (GISs) are maintained by many large cities and businesses to store information on a multi-dimensional interactive database. GIS databases are typically used to keep track of roads, utilities, parcel identification numbers (PINs) and other data that have wide distribution in a town. Surveys of brownfield sites can be relatively easily added to a GIS database. For example, Newark, New Jersey developed a GIS database to store brownfield site information (e.g., PINs, size, infrastructure, regulatory status) and linked this GIS database to Newark’s Internet Web-page as a means to attract site developers to available brownfield sites.

The use of Web-Based project management and public Internet access information is rapidly increasing. A web-based project site allows for the storage of project information for and by Internet users that have a prescribed password. In some cases, the information is stored for read-only use. In other more sophisticated projects, an elaborate system of tracking can be created to allow users to view, change, track changes, and resubmit to other users totally electronically. According to Sharif Abou-Sabh, Vice President for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Capital Improvement Program, a multi-million dollar redevelopment at over twenty rail lines and stations, this web-based management tool has reduced construction schedules by months. “The average large contract that used to take over 18 months to get appropriate signatures now takes only four months. The CTA, once burdened with legal tangles and cost over-runs, is now a model for the nation.”

Internet-based sites are also being used more commonly for public information meetings and outreach to communities. These web-based sites are “read only” and store current pertinent information about a brownfield project. Anyone in the community that has Internet access can link to a web-site and read information at their own pace and schedule.

Good Progress Reporting
Good record keeping just makes good sense for brownfield projects. There are some keys to effective project record keeping for brownfield managers:

• Create a complete stakeholder list at the outset of a project (update frequently),
• Insist on brief regular (e.g., monthly and quarterly) progress reports from committees and consultants,
• Be sure minutes of all meetings are generated,
• Ask for CDs of reports in pdf file format (limits file space required and saves paper), and
• Communicate by e-mail and create an e-mail log that tracks the chronology of the project.

Starting Up or Over
But, what if your brownfield expert did leave and you are trying to start over or come up to speed rapidly?

Ways to gather lost information:

• Ask for a face-to-face meeting with stakeholders for an oral history,
• Relocate consultant records (Consultants generally keep a record of reports they produce — hard copy records can typically be accessed through written permission of the original client), and
• Submit Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests of applicable Agencies for pertinent information.

Steps to start over or start a new brownfield group within your organization:

• Use web sites to gather pertinent information (e.g., Northeast Midwest Institute, EPA Regional coordinators, State coordinators) (Mark – if feasible include links or direct readers to other articles in the magazine at this location)
• Link to counterparts in other cities or companies (i.e., best practices leaders in a comparable situation)
• Visit brownfield websites for “what’s happening” type of updates.

Ken Kastman is a principal at URS Corporation.