Inventory
An inventory
of potential brownfield sites for a municipality includes
municipally owned or privately owned abandoned properties
(if the owner agrees to have the site included in a list
of sites). Properties may have known environmental issues
or suspected contamination that may have occurred during
the life of the property.
Ideally the
list of sites is screened for locations with potential
redevelopment value for private sector uses or community
public uses. Some sites have no redevelopment value
regardless of their contamination level.
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Visioning
Each community
evaluates the inventory list and determines the highest
and best use for each property. This can be a long and
difficult process but agreement on future use with grass
roots support for the end use is critical to the success
of the project. Factors to consider include existing master
plans, infrastructure capacities, surrounding uses, environmental
justice issues and community vision for the future of
the neighborhood. A local “Champion” for each
site is a necessity. This is a long and difficult process.
Leadership and determination are required to see the project
through to the final reuse.
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Funding
Funding is usually
required for each stage of the brownfield process. Planning
grants from the State and Federal governments and some
private foundations are available for the inventory and
visioning stages. Investigation and remediation of the
property can become lengthy and expensive. Funding for
initial investigation is a good first step to characterize
the site. The future use of the site may have to be revisited
base on the potential cost of the remediation using the
initial data from the first phase of the investigation
as an estimating tool. A community may wish to consider
packaging the site for the real estate market without
doing the remediation work. The asking price for the property
would have to reflect the cost of remediation and the
uncertainty associated with the lack of data. Funding
for the complete investigation, design and remediation
are available but will require local matching funds or
in-kind services.
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Investigation
The more information
on the Arial and vertical extent of contamination, the
more comprehensive and reliable the remedial design can
be. Short cuts in the investigation stage can lead to
false results and expensive field changes during remediation.
It could also invalidate the future use analysis thereby
wasting time, money and effort in the program.
There are
strict procedures and regulatory requirements for the
investigation of sites at the State and Federal level.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
and the USEPA web pages are an excellent place to start
for information on requirements for the investigation
and remediation programs. Here are the links to the
program guidance.
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Remedial
Design and Construction
Under a Brownfields
program, remedial design options are limited to the technological
approaches compatible with the future use of the site.
Because of this, the more specificity available in the
future use (ideally a site plan for the future facility),
the simpler the design process. Creativity in the application
of technologies can reap significant rewards at this stage
of the program. Experienced designers are well worth the
added cost and should be actively sought for any complex
project. Demonstrated construction oversight experience
should also be required of the design firm. The greatest
design that is poorly constructed will still fail.
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Packaging
the Site for Sale
You have a site
with the support of the surrounding community. It has
been remediated to State and/or Federal requirements and
the State will provide a “Covenant not to Sue”
for work already performed. This may provide some comfort
to lending institutions for project financing. The more
detailed the presentation package for the site, the greater
interest in the site. Marketing information on demographics,
strengths of the area for transportation, access to markets,
infrastructure capacity, incentive packages for taxes
and training, financing vehicles and finally quality of
life advantages for new employees should be presented.
Draw on the expertise of your local economic development
experts and state level agencies. Utility companies usually
have economic development specialists that may know potential
users for the site. Include them on your team. Use real
estate sales professionals to assist in the search for
the end user. Their network of contacts is well established
and a creative, informative marketing package makes their
job easier also.
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