The government has faced
many challenges over the past year determining brownfield reuse strategies.
As brownfield redevelopment has progressed over the past seven years,
the involvement of state government has become increasingly important. This
past year has proven to be one of the most dynamic and challenging times
…
Parts of the Midwest are
more heavily industrialized. Areas along the Gulf, West Coast and the Great
Lakes have waterfront issues that are as serious. Some Sunbelt cities may
have similar crowding and sprawl issues. But only the Mid-Atlantic region
faces all those problems—and more.
The …
Since 1995, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has strived to make the restoration of brownfields a usual occurrence in the Commonwealth. All across Pennsylvania, communities that once were home to the remnants of Pennsylvania’s economic past are flourishing and coming to life as old sites are turned into new opportunities. Since the Land Recycling Program’s inception in 1995, 864 cleanups have been performed at 769 sites across Pennsylvania. As …
The states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania share many things, including the scenic Delaware River as a border and more than 100 years of industrial heritage. Industry thrived along the banks of the Delaware River for many years, but population shifts and industrial migration left in their wake many abandoned contaminated “brownfield” properties.
Today both states share leadership roles in dealing with these abandoned, underused, contaminated properties. These sites are considered …
A Look Back at the Cities and Regions Covered by
Brownfield News in 1999
1999 is not that long ago,
unless you’re measuring time with a brownfield scale. Using that
measure, 1999 is almost an eternity ago—the industry changes that
fast.
…
A Brownfield Developer’s Asset In Disguise: An
Introduction to Insurance Archeology
Like brownfield properties themselves, historic
insurance policies are often an asset in disguise. Once identified,
however, they are a potent source of funding for brownfield redevelopment
projects. Brownfield redevelopers are becoming familiar with new insurance …
Federal News
A new initiative to encourage the redevelopment of brownfield sites under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act was announced by the Environmental Protection Agency. The initiative is part of a new round of RCRA corrective action reforms released by the EPA. Although brownfield rehabilitation traditionally has been associated with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)because many brownfield sites are abandoned the EPA is beginning to …
If we are to unlock the keys to private investment in
the rejuvenation of brownfield properties, then we must first understand
the context that has contributed to their abandonment.
Brownfield sites were not abandoned just because they
were contaminated. The contamination rather must be viewed as just another
…
Over the last decade, cities across America have faced
both municipal and military airport closures with significant concern. With
job losses, thousands of acres of potentially fallow land and a tangle of
jurisdictions looming before them, the federal government, local
authorities and developers have found some surprising new uses for …
In New England, the Industrial Cycle Comes Full Circle
The former Riverside Mills Property in Providence,
R.I., is a time capsule of New England’s industrial history. In 1863,
a firm known as Champlin & Downes built a four-story textile factory
and a series of different mill operators used the building …
Federal News
The Senate passed S. 350 a bipartisan bill that will provide funds and reforms federal brownfield liability. The bill passed unanimously, with 99 senators voting in favor and one senator, Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.), not voting. The Brownfields Revitalization and Environmental Restoration Act of 2001 (S.350) provides liability protections for innocent parties, such as contiguous property owners, prospective purchasers, and innocent landowners. The bill provides for funding and enhancement …
Laying the Tracks for Redevelopment
Marshall Williams drives CSX’s …
This is the first in a semi-regular Brownfield News series on waterfront redevelopment throughout the U.S. Future articles will explore shoreline projects, policies and methods in the South Atlantic states, the Gulf Coast, the West Coast, the Great Lakes, and riverside redevelopment. The next part of the series will …
Why Now?
It may seem a bit odd to be running a survey of waterfront redevelopment in Michigan with a story on East Coast waterfronts, but we thought this information would be useful to our readers.
The survey, conducted by EC&S in …
In order to carry out
Chevron Pipeline Company’s plans to decommission and sell a portion
of a pipeline transfer station at a prime commercial location in Southern
California, a major remediation project was undertaken. Soil and
groundwater impacted with heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons had to be
…
The Keystone in Pennsylvania
Denise Chamberlain puts her private-sector experience
and her vision to work to create a world-class brownfield program in the
state of Pennsylvania.
Denise Chamberlain
If you distilled …
All the talk about sprawl in recent years has missed the larger issue, which is how the loss of quality of life threatens future growth and prosperity. Sprawl is simply one form of development that has come to symbolize a negative form of growth, but other forms are available.
A …
Natural Disasters and Brownfields
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
Genesis 1:1
“The term ‘act of God’ means an unanticipated grave natural disaster or other natural phenomenon of an exceptional, inevitable, and irresistible character, the effects of which could not have been prevented or avoided by the exercise of due care or …
Ralph Nader
While issues such as education, health care, and
military preparedness dominate the presidential campaign, brownfields, and
related issues such as sprawl, rebuilding industry, job creation, and
environmental policy, are …
