As the mantra of sustainability becomes increasingly prevalent in popular culture, it may be presumed by many that successful brownfield redevelopment means the transformation of once noisy, bustling industrial properties from rusty shells of their former selves into places of less torrid activity. Over the past 10 years, the goal of sustainable development has also permeated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Program. We have moved beyond the simple objective of helping communities reuse polluted land to the point where sustainable future use is an important component in any brownfield grant application.

It is not necessarily true, however, that sustainable reuse equates to non-industrial reuse. In fact, in recent years, many contaminated industrial sites have been restored to vibrant industrial reuse. Since 2006, roughly 60 percent of EPA-funded brownfield projects have been former industrial sites. Of those, almost one third have been returned to industrial reuse. ...

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