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April 2011
 

New Leadership Marks New Era for Region 4

In September 2010, Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming was appointed by President Barack Obama as the U.S. EPA's Region 4 Regional Administrator/Southeast Region, in turn becoming the first African American to hold this position in Region 4. However, garnering this position is not the first time Keyes FlSeming has made history.

Keyes Fleming took office as the DeKalb County (Ga.) District Attorney in January 2005, making her the first African-American and first woman ever to serve in this post. As DeKalb's DA, her staff prosecuted approximately 11,000 felony cases annually. She also managed and trained approximately 45 attorneys, more than 55 support personnel and administered a $12 million budget.

In assessing her new opportunity and the shift from a pure public legal post to an environmental-centric position that also incorporates legal, economic responsibilities—plus more—Fleming emphasized the opportunity at hand to spark economic revitalization for the region, which serves Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and 6 Tribes.

Keyes Fleming remarked that "one of the things I most enjoy is working with our states and communities in the southeast on public health protection and environmental cleanup. The Brownfields program provides an exceptional opportunity for EPA to provide grant funds and technical assistance to support both of these activities while promoting economic revitalization. I look forward to working with many more communities which have both successes and challenges in this area," said Keyes Fleming.

Region 4 is also directing substantial staffing and resources to working with other federal agencies to support Brownfields Revitalization and Sustainable Communities. Twelve communities have been selected by Region 4 as areas where the region will work with communities and local and regional agencies to enhance ongoing federal activity in the area.

This effort originated as an attempt to work with communities that were awarded ARRA funds, but eventually included the Partnership for Sustainable Communities. Major projects that include Region 4 Brownfields and other federal assistance are located in Atlanta, Durham, N.C., Turkey Creek, Miss., The Historic Civil Rights Trail-Selma/Montgomery, Ala., and Aiken/Graniteville, S.C.

Executive Spotlight:

Philip Vorsatz,
Brownfields coordinator, Region 4, Atlanta.

Vorsatz once managed the Region's Safe Drinking Water Act program prior to this appointment, and has experience in water quality analysis and wastewater treatment design and construction. Everything flows from this meaningful line of experience for Vorsatz, who has served as the Coordinator/Manager of the Regional Brownfields program since 2003. What does he find compelling about this shift in capacity?

"Brownfields is an especially enjoyable program to work in, since it has so many differing components, the environmental and economic parts, community involvement, as well as the technical details of site sampling, cleanup planning and oversight," comments Vorsatz. "As an engineer, I find especially refreshing the ability to work with communities and local government officials on helping them sort out and begin to implement a vision for revitalization in their communities."

The EPA Brownfields program provides grants to communities for planning, assessment and cleanup of properties where contamination is limiting the property's environmental, social, or economic value. At any one time, EPA Region 4 is managing approximately 130 grants, many of which involve multiple properties. Grantees range from very small communities to the largest metropolitan areas in the Southeast.

This includes the city of Atlanta, which is performing assessment and cleanup on their inner "beltline" green way and transportation corridor; and the small city of Valley, Ala., which is re-adapting abandoned textile mills for small business enterprises.

Vorsatz holds a B.S. from Duke University and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Georgia. He also recently obtained his LEED Green Associate certification and is looking forward to implementing more "green" concepts in his Brownfields activities.

Are there local decision-makers that you know who are making a positive impact on brown and green initiatives? Please forward your recommendations so we can recognize them in future Regional Reports. Go to: www.brownfieldrenewal.com/editor

STATEWIDE DIRECTORY: A NAVIGATION GUIDE TO BROWNFIELD ACTIVITY

Larry Bryant, Chief
Environmental Services Branch
Alabama Department of Environmental Management
jlb@adem.state.al.us
http://www.adem.state.al.us/programs/land/brownfields.cnt

Kim Walker, Brownfields Program Manager
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Kim.Walker@dep.state.fl.us
www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/brownfields/default.htm

Madeleine Kellam, Brownfields Coordinator
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Madeleine.Kellam@dnr.state.ga.us
www.gaepd.org./Documents/brownfields.html

Herb Petitjean, Brownfields Coordinator
Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet
Herb.petitjean@ky.gov
www.dca.ky.gov/brownfields

Jere "Trey" Hess, P.E.
Brownfields Program Coordinator
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
Trey_Hess@deq.state.ms.us
www.brownfields.ms

Bruce Nicholson
Brownfields Program Manager
NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Bruce.Nicholson@ncdenr.gov
www.ncbrownfields.org

Robert Hodges, P.G., Manager
Brownfields Program
SC Department of Health and Environmental Control
hodgesrf@dhec.sc.gov
www.scdhec.gov/environment/lwm/html/brownfields.htm

Andy Shivas, Manager
Voluntary Cleanup Oversight & Assistance Program
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
Andy.Shivas@tn.gov
www.tn.gov/environment/dor/voap/

US EPA Region 4 Contacts
Philip Vorsatz, P.E.
Brownfields and Land Revitalization Coordinator
US EPA Region 4 vorsatz.philip@epa.gov
www.epa.gov/region4/bflr/brownfields.html

Michael Norman, Chief
Brownfields Section
US EPA Region 4
norman.michael@epa.gov
www.epa.gov/region4/bflr/brownfields.html



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Renewal Magazine
 

Current Issue  |  Digital Edition  |  Archives

Brownfield Renewal April 2011
Inside the Beltway: Can Bi-Partisanship Boost Brownfields?
With the Washington budget showing no signs of a quick-and-easy resolution, federal brownfields programs are unlikely to get much of …

Chicago Urban Ag Development Is ‘Food for Thought’ ...

Brownfields and crop development—for the express intent of producing foods—are concepts that have always been strange bedfellows. Mutually exclusive. An…

First Panned, Then Well-Planned! ...

At this abandoned, blighted factory—consisting of 187,227 square feet in 21 different structures on 13.5 acres in the three…

Highpointe of Clemson, 500 West Cherry Road, Columbia, S.C. ...

PROJECT GOAL: To revitalize land that had been sitting idle for years by putting the property back into productive…


plus All Archives



Job Board Listings
 

Featured Jobs  |  Newest Jobs |  Sponsors

Human Resources Assistant (Columbus, Indiana)
A manufacturing company located in Columbus, IN is seeking a Human Resources Assistant to join their team.Responsibilities:- Scheduling interviews- Assisting with payroll- Administering on-boarding pa…
Breaker Tester (Doble) (Louisville, Kentucky)
Aerotek Energy Services has an immediate opening in Louisville KY for a Breaker Technician. Candidates Must Have:Doble Factor TestingDuctor/Megger ExperiencePrevious Experience with or at a UtilityQua…
HEAVY CIVIL- SUPERINTENDENT (Rockville, Maryland)
Aerotek is currently looking for a Heavy Civil Superintendent to come on board and work for our client down in the Rockville, MD area. Our client is a Small- Medium size construction company that spec…
Junior Accountant (Charlotte, North Carolina)
Our client, a large manufacturing company located North of Charlotte, is seeking a junior-level Accountant to serve in a ~2 month contract capacity, with possible indefinite extension. Qualified cand…





Industry Profiles
 
Michele Oertel Michele Oertel
Indianapolis
EPA/Community Liaison & Outreach Coordinator, Indiana Brownfields Prog

Polly Jessen Polly Jessen
Denver
Partner, Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP

David Flynn
Buffalo, N.Y.
Partner, Phillips Lytle, LLP (New York City Office)



Brownfield Stateside Report
 
Michigan Vision--Regulatory Reinvention
by Staff Report
In Michigan, some are predicting a better business climate for redevelopment and regulatory closure of contaminated properties thanks to a bill Michigan Governor Rick Snyder was scheduled to sign last week. The new regulations should have a positive impact on commercial real estate development and brownfields redevelopment resulting in the creation of jobs.
NYC: Coal Tar Contamination Meets its Match
by VeruTEK
A property located on a bank of the East River and in a densely developed residential and commercial area, had its work cut out for it from an environmental remediation standpoint. The mission was to clean up the land and ultimately make one puzzle piece to a larger urban revitalization project that would be redeveloped as a public library and park ranger station.
 

 
view all


Industry Events
 
Oklahoma Brownfields Conference
Yesterday - Today
Skirvin Hilton Hotel
Ohio Brownfield Conference 2012
Today - May 24, 2012
Columbus
4th Northeast Sustainable Communities Workshop
Jun 07, 2012 - Jun 07, 2012
John Jay College - 899 Tenth Avenue

Submit Event


Industry Experts
 
Kenneth H. Kastman
Chicago
URS Corp.

Susan Boyle
Mt. Laurel
Senior Environmental Practice Leader, GEI Consultants

Therese Carpenter
Phoenix
Environmental Scientist



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