Susan Erickson,
Chief, Environmental Stewardship Grants and Loans Unit, Environmental Science and Services Division, Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality, Lansing

Erickson is a 28-year veteran of the DEQ who added the brownfields grant program to her job responsibilities in 2004 when the department was reorganized. Last year the program had hoped to distribute $10 million in brownfield redevelopment grants but fell short because of the "challenging times," she said. "So this year we're hoping to get that final grant money out."

Erickson, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University Honors College in biology and zoology, says Michigan's best assets for brownfield development are the state's liability laws and the different cleanup criteria for residential, industrial and commercial site usage. "That's made a big difference and helped us hang on [to brownfield projects] in these tough economic times," she noted.

Darsi Foss,
Chief, Brownfields and Outreach Section, Bureau for Remediation and Redevelopment, Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources, Madison

Brownfields are booming in Wisconsin, thanks in part to Foss, who has worked with the DNR for the past 15 years on cleaning up contaminated properties. "We've been really busy—I don't think we've seen the phone calls drop off at all," said Foss, who has played a significant role in the state's innovative environmental insurance programs and the development of Wisconsin legislation on brownfields tax incentives, grant programs, liability exemptions and land use controls. "There's been some reduction in the number of people requesting grants, but all of our staff is extremely busy trying to help people keep the projects that they've started going."

Foss also helped put together the state's first Brownfields Study Group, a program created by the Wisconsin legislature in 1998. The Brownfields Study Group consists of state and local officials, private parties, consultants, environmental attorneys and academicians who provide direction for the future of brownfields cleanup and redevelopment in the state.

Sadhu Johnston,
Chief Environmental Officer, Deputy Chief of Staff, Mayor's Office, City of Chicago

When Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed Johnston to oversee citywide environmental efforts in 2007, it was the first position of its kind in the country. Johnston, who had already served as commissioner for the city Dept. of Environment for two years, is charged with implementing Chicago's environmental agenda across all areas of city government, including building on the city's longtime brownfields initiative.

William Murdock,
Director, Urban Development Division, Ohio Dept. of Development, Columbus

Formerly deputy director of planning and development for the city of Gahanna, Ohio, Murdock brings an extensive background in brownfield development, city planning and zoning to his new position as director of the Urban Development Division, which helps implement the brownfields portion of the Clean Ohio Fund. Appointed in May 2008, Murdock calls the Clean Ohio Fund's brownfields program a "unique partnership between the Department of Development and Ohio EPA."

"Brownfield redevelopment is part of the state's strategic plan for economic development, introduced late last year," said Murdock, who has a master of science in parks, recreation, and tourism administration, and a master of city and regional planning from The Ohio State University. "There is widespread enthusiasm [for brownfield redevelopment] throughout Ohio—we have communities actively looking for these sites and bringing them to us."

In November 2008, Ohio voters in every county supported extending the Clean Ohio Fund with another $200 million over the next four years for brownfield cleanup and revitalization. "That's a significant investment [in brownfields] considering the size of Ohio," said Murdock.

Michele Oertel,
EPA/Community Liaison & Outreach Coordinator, Indiana Brownfields Program, Indiana Finance Authority, Indianapolis

Oertel has been working on brownfields for more than 11 years and contributed to the creation and administration of the state's Brownfields Program in 1997. "I've been with the program since its inception," she said. She previously spent 16 years with the Indiana Dept. of Environmental Management, coordinating EPA-funded assessments, technical oversight of state and federally funded brownfield projects, and document reviews for liability determinations. A graduate of Indiana University with a bachelor of science in public affairs and a concentration in environmental science, Oertel has also worked as a project manager for brownfield sites.

The current Indiana Brownfields Program was created by Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2005 by merging the existing brownfield financial and technical review programs and resources into one program under Indiana Finance Authority management

Fred D. Reynolds,
Senior Vice President, Development, CenterPoint Properties, Oak Brook, Ill.

Reynolds oversees CenterPoint's industrial real estate development in Chicago and its central suburbs, where it is the largest owner and developer of industrial real estate with 24 branded business parks. In his 17-year career, he has managed more than 300 acres of brownfield redevelopment projects valued at more than $250 million. "We're just starting to enjoy the vertical development that comes after cleanup" on these sites, said Reynolds. "After we did the heavy lifting [of remediation], we have very good infill sites to market to people. We're a real estate company that loves working on brownfields."

In fact, CenterPoint is a national leader in brownfield redevelopment, earning two U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Phoenix awards. "We're self-funded, so we don't have to rely on funding from lending institutions," Reynolds said. "If we've learned one thing, it's to do big, magnificent [brownfield] projects—you have to do it on a large scale."

Doug Scott,
Director, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Springfield

Scott's strong background in city and state government has served him well since he was appointed director of the Illinois EPA in 2005. The former mayor of Rockford and Illinois state representative has addressed environmental concerns throughout his career, and is a member of the Environmental Council of States and the Midwestern Governors' Association regional greenhouse gas panel.

"We have a very aggressive program in working directly with municipalities . . . and a site remediation program that allows us to work with communities, developers and property owners to get brownfield sites back into productive use," he said. "I love this stuff—having been a mayor, I worked with a lot of difficult properties. It's really fun to be on this end where we can do something about it."

Scott adds that his agency tries to approach brownfield remediation projects in a variety of ways, "some traditional, some acknowledging the unique issues with communities in Illinois. A lot of times, we don't know until we get in there what we're going to find."