Brownfields

By evaluating abandoned, underutilized, and deteriorating industrial and commercial sites, the City hopes to spur economic development and revitalization throughout the community.

About the Brownfields

Brownfields are usually concentrated in urban areas, but they can really be anywhere. They are typically abandoned or underutilized commercial or industrial sites, such as manufacturing facilities, warehouses, gas stations, machine shops, and dry cleaning facilities, but they can even include residential properties where, at some point, hazardous substances might have been used.

Definitions & Acronyms

• Brownfields - Real property, either presently in use or vacant, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of   which may be complicated by the presence or perceived presence of a hazardous substance,        pollutant, or contaminant. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties protects the environment, reduces blight, and takes development pressures off greenspaces and working lands.
• Environmental Site Assessment (ESA)- A site evaluation or assessment conducted for purposes of determining the extent, if any, of contamination on a property.  An assessment can be informal or formal and can consist of several stages. A Phase I ESA, or basic study of possible contamination at a site, is limited to collecting information about past and present site use and observing present conditions. If needed,   a Phase II ESA sometimes follows Phase I with sampling and analysis of suspected contaminated areas of a site. A Phase III ESA may follow the Phase II assessment by:
  1. Gathering information on the   exact extent of contamination
  2. Preparing plans and alternatives for site cleanup
• Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) - A federal law that governs the investigation and cleanup of sites contaminated with hazardous substances. The law establishes a trust fund that can be used by the government to clean up sites on a National Priorities List.
• EPA - Environmental Protection Agency