c/EPA
Region 2
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Brownfields Quarterly Community Report
VOLUME 1 NUMBER 4
Brownfields '97 Provides
National Forum to
Discuss Redevelopment
and Cleanup Issues
Almost two thousand people from across
the country attended Brownfields '97
hosted by EPA, at the Kansas City
Convention Center in Kansas City, Mis-
souri, September 3-5, 1997. Substantial
growth in attendance at the conference
from the first national brownfields confer-
ence in IS96 is indicative of the ongoing
and growing interest in brownfields
throughout the country and the broad
spectrum of stakeholders. Among the
attendees were representatives from com-
munities, federal, state, and local agen-
cies, financial institutions, real estate
firms, academia, environmental consult-
ing, and environmental law firms.
"The theme for the conference 'Partnering
for a Greener Tomorrow' is more than just
a slogan. It epitomizes what we have
been trying to do in the brownfields arena
over the past few years," said the Honor-
able Carol Browner, Administrator, EPA.
Over 250 speakers shared their expertise
in panels and workshops focusing on five
major areas: assessment and cleanup,
community involvement, finance, legal
issues, and redevelopment/sustainable
use. Attendees also had an opportunity to
see the brownfields related products and
services of over 90 exhibitors.
Timothy Fields, Jr., Acting Assistant Ad-
ministrator, Office of Emergency and Re-
medial Response, USEPA, was the Master
of Ceremonies. The attendees were
warmly welcomed by the Mayor of the
host city, the Honorable Emmanuel
Cleaver II, and his counterpart in neigh-
boring Kansas City, Kansas, the Honor-
able Carol S. Marinovich. Governor Mel
Carnahan of Missouri talked about the
state's emphasis on environmental
cleanup and the acceptance of the state's
Voluntary Cleanup Program by EPA.
In his keynote address, Minnesota's Attor-
ney General, Hubert H. Humphrey III,
proudly traced his own state's innovations
in redeveloping industrial sites back al-
most a decade to the 1988 passage of the
Minnesota Property Transfer Program.
This program led four years later to the
State's Voluntary Cleanup Program and
Land Recycling Act of 1992. These ini-
tiatives, and such Minnesota success sto-
ries as the "recycling" of the New Brigh-
ton Site, a state and federal Superfund
site, were recognized in 1994 with a Ford
Foundation Award for Innovation.
The city government perspective was
offered by the Honorable Paul Helmke,
(continued on Page 2)
SPRING 1998
New York State's
Brownfields Programs
New York State has put substantial energy
and resources toward the redevelopment
of industrial sites. The state's Voluntary
Cleanup Program was initiated in 1994.
Since then, proposals have been made in
the New York State legislature to provide
a specific statutory framework to address
brownfields issues, but no such legislation
has been enacted. The Voluntary Cleanup
Program developed under the regulatory
authority of the New York State Depart-
ment of Environmental Conservation
(NYSDEC) still functions with the same
basic program elements it began with in
1994.
The program can apply to any contami-
nated property in New York in which the
federal government does not have lead
responsibility. It is aimed at parties who
are not potentially responsible parties
(PRPs), that is, who are not responsible
under the law to remediate contaminated
property. This can include the present
owner if that party purchased the property
in a contaminated condition and was not
otherwise responsible as a PRP, develop-
ers or other prospective purchasers, mu-
nicipalities and even PRP's in situations
that do not involve Superfund Class 1 or
Class 2 sites or sites already subject to
enforcement actions.
Key components of the program include
the commitment document agreed upon
between the "volunteer" and NYSDEC.
This can be either a consent order or an
agreement which defines the extent of the
volunteer's activities (e.g., investigation
only, remediation only, or a combination
of both). Cleanup levels are negotiated on
a site-specific basis. At completion of
(continued on Page 2)
Inside:
Works in Progress	2
Glen Cove: Focusing on the Waterfront ....	2
New York City Task Force Moves to
Select Sites 	3
Workshop Inaugurates Jersey City Pilot ....	4
Buffalo Brownfields Enter Action Phase ....	4
Puerto Rico's Pilot Project	5
Facts From The Field	6
Industry

^"Brownfields^
I Redevelopment®
. through
I. Partnerships j
BQCR Vol. 1 No. 4 Spring 1998

-------
New York State
(continuedfrom Page 1)
cleanup, a "qualified release" letter is is-
sued by NYSDEC, stating that the agency
does not contemplate further action at the
site. NYSDEC also releases the volunteer
from further past contamination cleanup
liability. Over 50 agreements pertaining to
approximately 100 sites have been signed
to date.
A second major program to deal with site
cleanup and redevelopment was approved
by New York State voters as part of the
New York State Clean Water/Clean Air
Bond Act of 1996, which included $200
million for restoration of municipal
brownfields. Municipalities can apply for
up to 75% of the cost of investigating and
cleaning up contamination they did not
cause on property they now hold. These
cleanups must comply with state
Superftind standards. Under the guidelines
of this program, NYSDEC will release
municipal owners from liability relating to
the past contamination at the site. Munici-
palities have already moved to take ad-
vantage of this program, often as part of
their overall brownfields strategy, which
can include access to the programs of the
federal Brownfields Initiative and other
state financing mechanisms.
For more information, please contact
Christine Costopoulos, NYSDEC, at (518)
457-7894. ~
Brownfields '97
(continuedfrom Page I)
Mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana and Presi-
dent of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Mayor Helmke urged participants to work
locally and nationally to change spending
priorities, push partnerships, and keep the
focus on the overall potential of sites and
communities rather than the often com-
plex process of redevelopment He also
counseled his colleagues at the state and
federal level to avoid the pitfalls which
are often brought about when transporta-
tion or environmental planning decisions
made in these arenas come back with un-
intended consequences to penalize cities
and their aging industrial sites.
Dr. Beverly Wright, Director of the Deep
South Center for Environmental Justice at
Xavier University, discussed the impor-
tance of the concept of neighborhood and
community involvement and the strides
being made through the Minority Worker
Training program in New Orleans. The
program, a joint effort with the National
Institutes of Environmental Health Sci-
ence and Clark Atlanta University, trains
people in high risk areas to work in haz-
ardous remediation.
The conference was co-sponsored by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Mortgage Bankers Association of Amer-
ica, Environmental Council of States, U.S.
Conference of Mayors, American Bar As-
sociation, International City/County Man-
agement Association, National Confer-
ence of Black Mayors, Inc., the Trust for
Public Land, and the National Religious
Partnership for the Environment.
Planning for Brownfields '98 has begun.
This year's conference, "Brownfields '98:
The Basics and Beyond" is scheduled for
November 16-18, 1998 at the Los Angeles
Convention Center in Los Angeles, Cali-
fornia. ~

Contaci Tnfom^ion;f&	.
. .quarters ®id Regional offices; •:.^'
€> Directory afResources-describes
'•*' tradeassociations, databases; jnistitu-
. lions, publications, and other '•
sources of information ....
0 Information onBrownfields tax in-
centives, liability, and potential in-
surance products for cleanup and
redevelopment
© Information on Environmental Jus-
tice and the Brownfields Economic
Redevelopment Initiative
@ National and Regional Pilots - Quick
Reference Fact Sheets
© EPA Guidance Summaries ~
WORKS IN PROGRESS
This issue of the BQCR reports on
how five of the Region's Pilot Projects
are tackling the Brownfields challenge:
their goals, their strategies and their
progress to date.
Glen Cove: Focusing
on the
Waterfront
Q/lpcfa.te
Efforts to revitalize Glen Cove's aging
industrial waterfront had been in progress
for several years when EPA awarded the
city a Region 2 brownfields pilot grant.
In March 1998, in addition to its ongoing
brownfields pilot project, Vice President
Gore announced that the city of Glen
Cove had been selected as a national
Brownfields Showcase Community. This
designation adds $1.4 million in federal
assistance to support Glen Cove's plans
for its industrial waterfront Backed with
this federal support, Glen Cove officials
are hoping to leverage $270 million more
in private investment to create a regional
tourist destination complete with feny
service, a hotel, shopping and restaurants.
The waterfront project calls for the com-
pletion of the Local Waterfront Revital-
ization Program, development of a harbor
management plan, creation of an eco-
nomic development/design plan for the
waterfront, and dredging the Glen Cove
Creek. The New York State Department
of State has identified this area as a his-
toric maritime region and one of three
maritime centers on Long Island Sound to
be targeted for waterfront redevelopment.
Prior to becoming a federal Brownfields
Showcase Community, Glen Cove's wa-
terfront project had received more than
$1.5 million from federal, state, local and
private sources. The new Showcase Com-
munity designation and the pilot project
have added a focus on brownfields resto-
ration to this effort. As revitalization ef-
forts proceed, they will include an exami-
nation of potential brownfields properties,
an assessment of their environmental and
health concerns, and evaluation of their
potential for remediation and reuse.
Specifically, the brownfields pilot project
adds $50,000 toward the creation of a
community-based plan to promote the
reuse of brownfields properties in the
Ef
BQCR Vol. 1 No. 4 Spring 1998

-------
area. To develop that plan, the city will
identify and investigate potential
brownfields sites; coordinate activities of
lead agencies and responsible parties; fa-
cilitate dispute resolution activities; coor-
dinate public participation, risk communi-
cation and environmental justice activities
with the community; and promote rede-
velopment of the sites by defraying the
costs associated with re-zoning and identi-
fying potentially innovative cleanup tech-
nologies.
Once local brownfields properties are in-
ventoried and prioritized, the city antici-
pates investigating four to eight sites as
part of the pilot project. Those local sites
now under investigation and remediation
through EPA or the New York State De-
partment of Environmental Conservation
will not be considered pilot site candi-
dates. Based on preliminary work, the
final pilot project sites are likely to in-
clude small sites (less than 2 acres in size)
formerly used for printing, salvage, waste
transfer, and concrete operations.
Phase II site assessments will be con-
ducted at these pilot sites including expo-
sure or qualitative risk assessments to de-
termine the potential for human contact
with contaminants. Because most of the
creek area will be developed for commer-
cial land use, the city expects most of the
cleanups to comply with "risk-based con-
centrations for nonresidential areas. Rec-
ommendations for remediation will focus
on site engineering mechanisms such as
pavement, soil cover and buildings as
measures to eliminate contaminant expo-
sure pathways. The entire project, con-
cluding with the preparation of site assess-
ment reports for each selected site, is ex-
pected to take 16 to 24 months.
Once the site assessments have been com-
pleted, the city of Glen Cove hopes to
secure funding for remediation from a
variety of sources such as the 1996 New
York State Clean Water/Clean Air Bond
Act which provides reimbursement to mu-
nicipalities for brownfields remediation
under the Environmental Restoration Pro-
gram, federal Housing and Urban Devel-
opment Section 108 loans, and HUD
Community Development Block Grants.
The city has already proven its ability to
secure funding for its redevelopment ef-
fort from disparate public and private
sources. Officials believe the brownfields
pilot project and the Showcase Commu-
nity assistance will further enhance that
ability and enable them to attract signifi-
cant private investment as well.
"It's another piece of the puzzle, a way for
us to show people, 'Hey, EPA is in-
volved.' And the money grows," said
Robert Benrubi, Executive Director of the
Glen Cove Redevelopment Agency.
EPA's involvement through brownfields
redevelopment, says Benrubi, is a "huge
boost"
Mr. Benrubi may be reached at (516) 676-
1625, or call Ed Als, USEPA, at (212)
637-4272. ~
New York City
Task Force
Moves to Select Sites
Qslpcfate
Awarded an EPA brownfields pilot pro-
ject grant in March 1996, the City of New
York is now entering the final segment of
its pilot work plan: site selection and the
opportunity to test new approaches to
redevelopment. Having enlisted more
than 150 stakeholders to participate
through the New York City Brownfields
Task Force, and enlisting those stake-
holders to review existing information and
identify novel approaches to redevelop-
ment employed elsewhere, the city is now
working to focus its findings on a handful
of demonstration sites.
Like most pilot projects, New York's goal
is to create a locally-specific framework
to identify and test measures that will
accelerate the pace and enlarge the scale
of site cleanups and redevelopment. To
make the most of the Task Force mem-
bers' collective expertise, the group
divided into five subgroups which have
been working independently to gather
baseline data on past cleanups, current
brownfields site assessment procedures
and redevelopment practices, and obsta-
cles to brownfields reuse. In addition, the
Task Force prepared a Community Out-
reach Plan identifying the areas in the city
with the greatest number and acreage of
vacant and underutilized industrial sites.
The city met this winter with 26 commu-
nity boards from those areas most blighted
by brownfields, and is now selecting five
demonstration sites on which to test inno-
vative cleanup and redevelopment ap-
proaches.
Eager to learn from the success of other
programs, in June 1997 the Task Force
held a forum to further understand how
New York City might adapt redevelop-
ment programs used in other cities to New
York's unique needs. Senior government
representatives from six states shared with
New Yorkers innovative approaches to
brownfields site assessment and cleanup.
Participants were specifically asked to
discuss how their program or initiative
would address specific prototypical site
scenarios based on New York City's
brownfields situation. The forum was
heralded as a tremendous success, inform-
ing New York City on innovative ap-
proaches to brownfields cleanup and help-
ing the city both to identify issues needing
further exploration and to select the final
criteria that will be used in choosing the
demonstration sites.
New York City is now completing its
analysis of current practices and innova-
tive approaches, evaluating the Geo-
graphic Information System (GIS) data on
brownfields properties collected under the
program, finalizing site selection criteria,
and selecting the demonstration sites.
Once the pilot sites are chosen, the city
wilTproceed to assess the contamination
at the sites and pursue cleanup plans.
To prepare for this end process, New
York City has already applied and re-
ceived approval for funding from the New
York State Clean Water/Clean Air Bond
Act to help pay for investigation and
cleanup of 15 sites in the city, some of
which may be selected as demonstration
sites. New York City will also consider
remediating sites under the New York
State Voluntary Cleanup Program where
appropriate.
According to Benjamin Miller, Deputy
Director of the Mayor's Office of Envi-
ronmental Coordination, the city is seek-
ing a mix of demonstration sites that will
display situations that are typical of
brownfields properties in the city, yet also
present different ownership and cleanup
scenarios. As it meets with local commu-
nity boards, the city will be looking for
potential demonstration sites that can be
BQCR Vol. 1 No. 4 Spring 1998
H

-------
matched with identifiable end uses, said
Miller.
As work proceeds, the Task Force and the
city will prepare several documents detail-
ing the findings of this extensive research
effort. These reports will identify baseline
conditions for New York City today, ex-
amining the potential universe of
brownfields properties, present insurance
and investment constraints and opportuni-
ties, the laws and regulations currently in
effect, and describing new guidelines now
being drafted by New York City and New
York State Department of Environmental
Conservation (NYSDEC). These reports,
though local in focus, can help other com-
munities understand what kind of effort is
necessary to begin to address their local
brownfields issues. In addition, the city
will prepare reports on its pilot sites,
brownfields programs nationwide, and a
final recommendations report for New
York City brownfields.
For more information please contact
Annette Barbaccia, New York City Coor-
dinator at (212) 788-2937 or Christos
Tsiamis, USEPA at (212) 637-4257.D
0/lpcfa.te
Workshop
Inaugurates
Jersey City Pilot
On October 3,1997 Jersey City held a
brownfields workshop to introduce its
plans under the recently awarded EPA
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration
Pilot Grant. The workshop was sponsored
by EPA. Participants in the workshop
included community members, industrial
property owners and developers as well as
representatives from federal, state and city
government offices. Jersey City's Mayor,
Bret Schundler, welcomed participants
and encouraged all levels of private and
public involvement by describing the
brownfields initiative as "a regional issue
as well as a neighborhood issue."
Key speakers included Professor Albert
Price, of the State University of New
York at Buffalo, who provided the histori-
cal context by discussing changing pat-
terns of urban development and redevel-
opment, and Charles Bartsch, of the
Northeast Midwest Institute, who pre-
sented numerous examples of how other
cities have dealt with barriers to the
brownfields redevelopment process. Rep-
resentatives of the Jersey City Redevelop-
ment Agency discussed the specific plans
for Jersey City's Brownfields Pilot Pro-
ject. The goal of the project, they said, is
to create a standardized process for rede-
veloping brownfields. This process will
emphasize increasing the municipal tax
base, creating industrial jobs, and identify-
ing and reducing the potential exposure to
contaminants.
In the last portion of the workshop, partic-
ipants aired questions and concerns in the
spirit of beginning a mutually beneficial
dialogue between die private and public
sector. The city hopes the success of this
initial "kickoff" workshop will attract
more interested parties to the subsequent
stakeholders meetings.
The city chose the Lafayette Park area for
initial redevelopment based on its mix of
industrial and residential land uses, its
large concentration of industrial
properties — either abandoned or having
substantial municipal tax liens allowing
foreclosure by the city — and local resi-
dents in need of jobs. Jersey City began
analysis of the target area by mapping the
location and land use of 850 properties
using Geographic Information Systems
(GIS). The city continues to gather infor-
mation on property characteristics, such as
building conditions, tax liens and known
contamination, which will be included in
the GIS maps. As part of the redevelop-
ment program, Jersey City also plans to
guide efforts to preserve historic struc-
tures and to designate industrial/
residential zones in the Lafayette Park
area.
Experienced with previous community-
development programs, Jersey City is
committed to keeping all stakeholders
informed. Community involvement activ-
ities underway include holding stake-
holder meetings, disseminating site infor-
mation through flyers and newsletters and
media coverage.
For more information please contact San-
ford Greenberg in Jersey City at (201)
547-4790 or Chelsea Albucher, USEPA at
(212) 637-4291. ~
Buffalo
Brownfields
Enter Action Phase
Qslpcfa/e
After two-plus years of work to promote
redevelopment, the City of Buffalo, New
York is beginning to reap the benefits of
its EPA Brownfields Pilot Grant. As two
redevelopment projects near completion,
several others are undergoing site assess-
ment and cleanup planning.
At the height of its manufacturing opera-
tions Buffalo was home to 625,000 peo-
ple. A third of this population lived in
residential neighborhoods interspersed
with the manufacturing plants where they
labored. The 1978 discovery of toxic
contaminants in nearby Love Canal
initiated a national environmental aware-
ness. Buffalo established task forces,
working groups, and commissions to
focus on particular environmental con-
cerns and came to discover the many
contaminated industrial sites throughout
the city. Today, life for Buffalo's 328,000
residents is impacted by more than 60
sites on the federal hazardous waste site
inventory and 30 properties listed on New
York State's registry of inactive hazard-
ous waste sites.
When Buffalo applied for pilot project
fun3ing in 1995, it had already paved the
way for significant local action. Inter-
ested groups had begun to examine the
potential and need for redeveloping Buf-
falo's brownfields, and two independent
focus group studies on the local situation
had prompted the city to appoint a
Brownfields Task Force to spur actual
redevelopment. This Task Force, through
the EPA pilot project grant, became the
umbrella under which the area's various
brownfields efforts were coordinated.
Working with the Buffalo Environmental
Management Commission and the pilot
project-funded Brownfields Development
Coordinator and Brownfields Community
Coordinator, the Task Force set out to
produce:
•	an inventory of sites, specifying the
general remediation they require;
•	a portfolio of practical and locally rele
vant processes for brownfields devel-
opment;
BQCR Vol. 1 No. 4 Spring 1998

-------
•	a participating and informed public;
and
•	at least two to four completed demon-
stration projects.
Today, two years later, the Task Force
has, for the most part, accomplished each
of these goals. In 1996, environmental
staff assisted by the Task Force identified
a list of potentially contaminated proper-
ties for environmental assessment. Using
an existing property inventory, it gathered
detailed site information and mapped 22
potential sites for assessment Subgroups
established criteria for ranking each of the
22 sites according to their ease of devel-
opment with respect to planning and land
use, legal and financial concerns, and en-
vironmental and public health issues.
Based on these criteria, the city identified
nine key sites, representing a mix of pub-
lic and private properties with near term
development potential, each of which fac-
tors significantly into the city's long term
development plans.
In September 1997, Buffalo requested an
extension of the time period for the pilot
project in order to fully complete the ma-
jor activities set out in the work plan. Site
assessments are underway at the nine can-
didate sites. Money remaining from the
grant is also being used to conduct assess-
ments at additional sites. Funding from
the New York State Clean Water/Clean
Air Bond Act has been used for assessing
three sites. The city plans to use the re-
sults of the assessments to determine the
best way to proceed to remediate each
location. In several instances the city
could decide to purchase the site prior to
cleanup and proceed to remediate the site
voluntarily or to pursue further Bond Act
funding.
Two additional sites are moving rapidly
towards redevelopment An indoor hy-
droponics facility newly developed on a
formerly contaminated property will begin
tomato production this spring. The Buf-
falo Urban Renewal Agency has also ac-
quired a brownfields site and is moving to
develop that property as a light indus-
trial/manufacturing operation.
The completion of the Phase I assess-
ments of the target sites will conclude Buf-
falo's pilot project but is not expected to
slow the local momentum on brownfields
redevelopment The pilot project has
taught the city what is possible. With
technical environmental staff now on
board, contaminated properties which
were once taboo can be assessed and pro-
moted for cleanup and redevelopment
The pilot grant allowed the city to effec-
tively integrate environmental concerns
into its redevelopment planning. Buffalo's
future redevelopment is now wide open—
brownfields and all. For more informa-
tion, please contact Jim Smith in Buffalo
at (716) 851-5633 or Kevin Matheis,
USEPA at (716) 873-5042.D
Q/ipcfate
Puerto Rico's
Pilot Project:
"Recycling" Buildings for
Economic Development
The first EPA National Brownfield As-
sessment Demonstration Pilot in the
Caribbean within EPA Region 2 is now
established in Puerto Rico. The pilot
grant was awarded in September 1997 to
the Puerto Rico Industrial Development
Company (PRIDCO).
PRIDCO is a public corporation and
government entity in charge of promoting
the establishment of foreign and local
industries in Puerto Rico. As part of its
role, PRIDCO owns more than 1,400
buildings throughout the island which it
leases to industrial companies. The
buildings represent an area of about 24
million square feet; roughly 91 percent of
Puerto Rico's industrially developed sites.
Upon receiving the award, Jaime Morgan
Stubbe, Executive Director of PRIDCO,
announced: "What this program does is
reduce the risk for investors in properties
that are perceived to be contaminated and
it allows us to reuse industrial facilities
that have been closed for years."
One such site is the former Hato Rey
Electroplating property in the Canteras
Community of San Juan. The facility has
been closed for 10 years and community
members have actively expressed interest
in its potential as a recycling plant.
However, concern that the site is contami-
nated has prevented developers from
stepping in. PRIDCO chose the former
Hato Rey Electroplating property as its
first pilot site for initial assessment. Two
other pilot sites will be identified based on
criteria outlined in the pilot's work plan.
Because Puerto Rico lacks specific poli-
cies on site redevelopment such as the
voluntary cleanup programs found in a
number of states, PRIDCO is playing an
important role in communicating with
public agencies responsible for reviewing
and ultimately approving redevelopment
projects. The targeted agencies include,
but are not limited to, the Environmental
Quality Board (the agency responsible for
the approval of site investigations, cove-
nants and government assurances), the
Department of Natural and Environmental
Resources, the Solid Waste Management
Authority and The Puerto Rico Planning
Board. With the help of EPA, PRIDCO
will organize a meeting to acquaint these
and other agencies with the goals of
EPA's National Brownfields Pilot Pro-
gram and how they fit within Puerto
Rico's regulatory scheme. PRIDCO also
intends to emphasize its island-wide appli-
cation of the program including integral
aspects of community and private sector
involvement. The PRIDCO pilot process
includes community and private sector
involvement and holds island-wide appli-
cation.
In order to insure the pilot's success
PRIDCO will educate selected stake-
holders and community members on gen-
eral brownfields issues (such as federal
and local liability), grant requirements and
site^Specific redevelopment issues. Draw-
ing from this experience, PRIDCO will
also develop training materials that can be
adapted towards Hispanic communities
throughout the USA.
PRIDCO representatives are hopeful
about the potential of this grant. They
believe that the training program will help
eliminate the misconception that many of
Puerto Rico's industrial sites are contami-
nated beyond repair. "Recycling" of
properties, as Mr. Morgan Stubbe has
called it will not only provide jobs in de-
pressed areas, it will also encourage re-
source conservation by preventing indus-
trial development on the island's natural
areas.
For more information on Puerto Rico's
EPA brownfields pilot project contact
Mr. Jose Perez Hernandez, Brownfields
Project Manager at (787) 754-7546 or
Carlos O'Neill, USEPA at (787) 729-
6951. ~
BQCR Vol. 1 No. 4 Spring 1998
H

-------
FACTS FROM THE FIELD
The information included in this section
was based on Winter 1997 data provided
by the seven pilot projects in Region 2 that
have selected demonstration sites for initial
assessment.
Size of Brownfields
Pilot Sites
Although brownfield sites are too varied to
allow any single site to be called 'typical',
some general trends are emerging as pilot grant
recipients choose specific demonstration sites.
62% of the 21 pilot sites of known size in Re-
gion 2 range between one and ten acres, fol-
lowed by 24% of sites ranging between 11-20
acres (Figure 1). Of the sites ranging between
1-10 acres, 71% are 5 acres or less.
11-20 31-30 31-40 >40
&2S ra>gB bi acrst
Figure 1
Size range of Region 2 Brownfields Demonstration Sites
Previous and Proposed Uses of Brownfields Pilot Sites
The following list provides examples of the previous and proposed uses of 10 selected brownfields demon-
stration sites in New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico. The variety of uses highl.gfits the numerous
possibilities for brownfields redevelopment in Region 2.
ORECYCLE
Location Size (acres)	Previous Use	Proposed Use
NY
5
Railroad warehouse
Light industrial manufacturing
NY
7.8
Undeveloped site/baseball field with
illegal dumping
Industrial park with new access to highway
NY
17
Finished sheet metal, copper
Bus Jiess park and iron products and stranded
cable
NJ
2.4
Brewery
Fairily entertainment near baseball park
NJ
20
Food products manufacturing, bulk materials
debris disposal
Community services (i.e police station)
NJ
1.7
Textile chemical factory
Expansion of adjacent business
NJ
7.5
Lead acid battery manufacturing
Mixed use, residential open space
NJ
<1
Bulk materials facility
Inst.tutional/ residential (i.e. senior assisted
living)
NJ
<2
Foundry
Recreation open space
PR
<5
Electroplating manufacturing facility
Recycling facility
BQCR Vol. 1 No. 4 Spring 1998

-------
EPA NEWS RELEASE
Jeanne Fox}
EPA Region 2 Administrator
Addresses Camden Opportunities
The City of Camden, NJ hosted more
than 650 people at its recent Business
and Development Opportunities Con-
ference. Designed to showcase the city
to developers and businesses, the event
proved to be a public affirmation of
Camden's proud past and its hopeful
future. In her remarks to the standing-
room-only crowd, EPA Region 2 Ad-
ministrator Jeanne Fox described the
local redevelopment opportunity pre-
sented by the city's brownfields.
"In Camden, the total number of acres
of brownfields is almost equal to the
amount of land devoted to productive
manufacturing," said Fox. "In that ur-
ban blight lies opportunity to restore
that land to productive, job-creating,
profit-making assets."
EPA acts as a partner, not a com-
mander in bringing appropriate rede-
velopment to areas where it makes
sense, areas with infrastructure and
people to fill new jobs, said Fox. To
that end, EPA has worked to better de-
fine the liability associated with these
sites and protect innocent landowners,
lenders and developers. And, the new
brownfields tax incentive makes
cleanup costs fully deductible in the
year in which they are incurred. These
public measures combined with the
EPA pilot grants can leverage private
investment and evolve the broad-based
local partnerships needed for success,
said Fox.
The gathering included federal, state,
local, and nonprofit agencies, and busi-
nesses, all looking to get a peek into
Camden's future. According to pub-
lished reports, Camden Mayor Milton
Milan's goal in hosting the event is to
spread the word on what Camden has
to offer. City assets highlighted at the
conference include Camden's strategic
location as a transportation hub, its
presence in one of the nation's top re-
tail sales markets, its benefits as a state
and federal empowerment zone, and its
large work force. ~
Brownfields Calendar of Events
September 15-17,1998
Warsaw, Poland
International Symposium and
Exhibition on Environmental
Contamination in Central and
Eastern Europe
Sponsored by Florida State University.
Experts discussing and demonstrating
innovative technologies and environ-
mental management methods.
Call (850) 644-7211 for information.
August 10-14,1998
Washington, DC
Neighborhood Reinvestment
Training Institute
The Institute will offer several courses
in the areas of community planning,
economic development and leadership
and management Courses are geared
to train staff of organizations commit-
ted to improving the vitality of neigh-
borhood economies and the quality of
community life.
For a full scope of courses offered call
Lucy Rosario at (800) 438-5547 or
visit their web site at
http://www.nw.org
Brownfields Showcase
Communities Announced
EPA and a partnership of federal agencies
selected 16 communities around the nation
to participate in the Brownfields Showcase
Communities pilot program. Under this
program, the selected communities will
receive funding and a wide range of techni-
cal assistance intended to link federal, state,
local and private sector action towards re-
developing brownfields. Each city will be
assigned a federal staff person to serve as a
liaison between the community and the
federal government. The staff person will
to help determine specific needs and de-
velop a customized plan for federal
brownfields assistance.
Two cities in Region 2, Trenton, NJ and
Glen Cove, NY, are among the 16 commu-
nities which will benefit from the $28 mil-
lion national program. The Showcase Com-
munities will serve as national models
demonstrating the positive results of public
and private collaboration on brownfields
challenges.
Initially, 231 interested communities ap-
plied by submitting a short Statement of
Interest addressing their brownfields poten-
tial, community need, local commitment,
and partnership opportunities. Forty final-
ists ttlgn submitted more detailed applica-
tions. On March 17, 1998, Vice President
Gore announced the final 16 Showcase
Communities. The Brownfields Showcase
Communities are:
Baltimore, MD
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
East Palo Alto, CA
Eastward Ho!, FL
Glen Cove, NY
Kansas City, MO
Los Angeles, CA
Trenton, NJ
Lowell, MA
Portland, OR
State of Rhode Island
St. Paul, MN
Salt Lake City, UT
Seattle, WA
Stamford, CT
For additional information on the
Brownfields Showcase Communities Pro-
gram contact Gayle Rice at EPA's head-
quarters office at (202) 260-8431 or
Chelsea Albucher at EPA's Region 2 office
at (212) 637-4291 or visit the EPA's
brownfields web site at
www.epa.gov/brownfields. ~
EPA REGION 2
BROWNFIELDS HOTLINE:
1-800-225-7044
BQCR Vol. 1 No. 4 Spring 1998

-------
OOS$ ssfl aiBAUd joj X^euad 'ssainsng lepyjo
ZOOOL AN 'HJOA msn
jooy iftgi. 'XEMpeojg 06Z
Z uo|6ay
Aoua6v uoipajojd leiuauuuojiAug STI

or
ht^^Anrww.epa.gov/regiorKKZ/
superfnd/brownfld/bfmainpg.htm
EPA's National Web Page
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Brownfields '98:
The Basics and Beyond
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
November 16-18,1998
Los Angeles, California
See EPA's Outreach and Special Projects Staff Web
Page for further information:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
The Brownfields Quarterly Community Report welcomes news
about local brownfields efforts by community groups and others.
If you have a story about what's happening where you are, please
contact Suzanne Becker, TRC Environmental Corporation, 200
Church Street, New York, NY 10013. Editorial staff retain the
right to review and revise all text as necessary for publication. ~
Printed on Recycled Paper
o

-------