Listen to this Green Air Minute:
Smelling green in brownfields
by The Green A-TeamBrownfields. What are they and why are developers so attracted to them?
First appearing in Congress in 1992, the US Environmental Protection Agency declared this term to describe abandoned or underused industrial areas that may be fit for reuse after their contamination levels had been assessed.
As urban real estate grows scarce, developers gravitate to industrial wastelands, taking advantage of the bargain bin property costs and cross their fingers that the hazardous materials found there won’t be too life threatening.
Brownfield classification is not as severe as what the EPA calls their growing list of Superfund sites, or areas that have critical levels of contamination.
While it seems wasteful to leave brownfields abandoned, some companies have found innovative ways to secure a guaranteed clean up in conjunction with tax incentives associated with development plans all wrapped up into one efficient, albeit complex, restoration and development contract.
For more on brownfields in your area, check out some of the following links.
Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, & Cleanup Pilot/Grantee Locations (EPA.gov)
Bedford Avenue cesspool continues to fester (Brownstoner)
Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (HUD.gov)
Cleaning up brownfields: Fact Pack (SERC)
Photo by *stuff and things*.