i
Across the Country,
Youth Programs Bring the Issue
of Brownfields Home
I
. n the more than 10 years since the inception of EPA's Brownfields
Program, brownfields have been redefined. Properties that were shunned
or eyed warily by those with the resources to transform them are now
viewed as dormant opportunities for economic and environmental rebirth.
Communities that suffered aesthetic and economic impacts through idle
or abandoned properties with low or unknown contamination levels now
have the options and resources available to turn them into cornerstones
of positive change. EPA's Brownfields Program steered this turnaround
by building upon the momentum of initial efforts, implementing new
opportunities for economic assistance in the areas where it would make
the most difference, and helping to modify Agency policy and federal
legislation so that EPA could be seen as a supporter of brownfields reuse,
rather than strictly as an enforcer for the environmental mistakes of a
property's former owners. The result is a supportive culture of economic
tools, resources, and incentives to help realize a brownfield's true
potential. Today's brownfields stakeholders are convinced of the
opportunities these properties represent.
The extent of change in the culture surrounding brownfields can be seen
in the programs emerging to involve youth in brownfields identification
and reuse, for the betterment of their communities. For these programs,
the potential value of brownfields has never been an issue—rather, the
programs encourage youth to locate brownfields and recommend reuse
plans that will transform the properties and enhance the areas that
surround them. Many of the programs described below, including Our
Town, the Brownfield Buster Patch, and others, were introduced only
within the last few years but have already been successfully replicated
and expanded far beyond their original trial areas. The success of these
efforts ensures that today's youth are repairing the legacy of
contaminated land handed off to them by prior generations. Students
today have a heightened environmental awareness and a sense of land
stewardship that will help prevent brownfields in years to come.
The Our Town Program
In 2003, Purdue University was awarded a competitive grant from EPA's
Brownfields Program, in response to an Agency request for proposals to
develop a program to educate youth about the economics and science of
brownfields. The result was the Our Town program, managed by
Purdue's Department of Engineering Education, which engages public
school youth in brownfields-related activities appropriate for their age
groups. For instance, elementary school students help to identify
brownfields in their communities. Middle school students conduct health-
risk assessments at these identified properties. High school science
continued ^
Girl Scouts working toward
their Brownfield Buster patches.
JUST THE FACTS:
The first year of the Our Town
program, more than 180 students
from seven schools helped to
identify 12 brownfields within the
historically industrial city of
Hammond, Indiana.
• Students in Indianapolis, Indiana
presented their Our Town reports
at the state Brownfields
Conference in April 2006, to hosts
that included the state's
Department of Environmental
Management and the Indiana
Finance Authority.
• The Our Town Program has since
been implemented in schools across
Indiana, as well as in Chicago,
Illinois; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
Tucson, Arizona; and
Portland, Oregon.
The Brownfield
Buster Patch Program
generates interest and involvement
among youth in brownfields
redevelopment, teaching them the value
of active citizenry and encouraging them
to get their parents, families and neighbors
involved. In Nassau County, where
the program debuted, approximately
170 scouts have earned
their patches.
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students research detailed property histories, review regulatory records, and examine a brownfield's
geological and hydrological conditions. And high school senior economics students design redevelopment
proposals for selected properties and present their reports at community brownfields forums. The idea of Our
Town is not only to engage youth in brownfields, but also to generate grass-roots momentum for communities
to actively pursue economic development and improve the quality of life for residents. Through student
activities, the program raises awareness and builds momentum for action on local brownfields issues, engages
youth in environmental science and economics, demonstrates the importance of broad-based community
involvement, and encourages careers in environmental, entrepreneurial, communications, and legal fields.
The Our Town program debuted during the 2004-05 school year in Hammond, Indiana. More than 180
students from seven schools, covering grades 4-12, helped to identify 12 brownfields within the historically
industrial city. Three of these properties were eventually selected for further investigation, assessments, and
reuse planning. Students identified likely contaminants given the sites' histories, and confirmed the presence
of two underground storage tanks (USTs). The students presented redevelopment options for the three
properties at a community meeting, unveiling a plan to turn a former truck transportation
property into a retail garden and landscape center.
By the following school year, the Our Town program had been replicated in
multiple schools within the Indiana cities of Kokomo, Lafayette, and
Indianapolis. Students from McFarlane Middle School in Indianapolis
presented their Our Town reports at the Indiana Brownfields Conference in
April 2006, to conference hosts that included the state's Department of
Environmental Management and the Indiana Finance Authority. The students
identified and selected a former gas station at Sherman and Raymond streets
as their targeted brownfield, as it was located close to the school and would
offer the greatest community benefit if redeveloped for commercial use. This Student Part'"Pa»ts °fthe °«r Tow» program
ti, r- • • <~ T i- i- i r\ 'n Hammond, Indiana reveal
property, and other brownnelds identified by Indianapolis students through Our their brownfield reuse plans.
Town, are now being considered by the city's Director of Brownfields for
environmental assessments.
The Our Town Program has since grown beyond its Indiana roots, being implemented at schools in Chicago,
Illinois; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Tucson, Arizona; and Portland, Oregon; further expansion is expected in
the months ahead. Daniel Somerville, Our Town's Program Coordinator at Purdue University, explains that,
"Communities from virtually every EPA Region have expressed interest in establishing the Our Town
program in their schools." EPA Region 5, which includes Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan,
and Ohio, offers technical assistance—including Targeted Brownfields Assessments (TBAs)—for each
community participating in the Our Town Program.
The Brownfield Buster Patch Program
Sustainable Long Island is a nonprofit organization with a mission to promote economic development and
environmental health for Long Island, New York residents. Executive Director Sarah Lansdale had been
thinking of ways her organization could help to identify and address the nearly 7,000 brownfields estimated
within Long Island. A former scout herself, Lansdale realized that the Girl Scouts would be an enthusiastic
and reliable group to educate and involve in community brownfields activities—particularly with more than
20,000 Girl Scouts in surrounding Nassau County alone.
In 2005, Sustainable Long Island partnered with Girl Scouts of Nassau County, and the Leavitt Foundation
(a charitable organization with a focus on youth and the environment) to create the Brownfield Buster Patch
Program. The program generates interest and involvement among youth in brownfields redevelopment,
teaching them the value of active citizenry and encouraging them to get their parents, families and neighbors
continued ^
Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA 560-F-07-217
Brownfields Youth Involvement and Emergency June 2007
Response (5105T) www. epa. gov/
brownfields/
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involved. Like the Our Town program, Girl Scouts from all ages (5-17 years old) and scout
levels (daisy, brownie, juniors, cadettes and seniors) can participate.
The new patch is earned by participating in various, "girl scout friendly" brownfields
activities, such as identifying and cataloguing abandoned properties in their
communities, thinking creatively of alternative uses for these sites, and learning
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about recently passed state brownfields legislation. Older scouts also participate in
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civic meetings to educate stakeholders in their communities and encourage local ^ r
elected officials to take action. Volunteers from Action Committee for the ... ., ' ., ,. .,
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Environment—a group or women in the environmental sciences whose members
include environmental lawyers and engineers—helped write the program's _ _ _
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curriculum and provide ongoing technical assistance and support to scouts earning , .. „ , , ,, ,
, t h http://www.purdue.edu/dp/ourtown
The Brownfield Buster Patch program was officially launched in November 2005, at Girl Scouts of Nassau County
the opening plenary session of the national Brownfields Conference in Denver, http://www.gsnc.org/
Colorado. The program's curriculum was shared with the Mile High Troop—the Denver
area Girl Scouts—who became the second troop to have scouts earn the Brownfield Buster
patch. In Nassau County, where the program debuted, approximately 170 scouts have already
earned their patches. In recognition of the program's accomplishments, EPA awarded Girl Scouts of
Nassau County with the Agency's Environmental Quality Award in 2006. Additionally, the program is now in
place in neighboring Suffolk County.
While the Our Town and Brownfield Buster Patch programs represent some of the largest and highest-
profile examples of youth involvement in brownfields, there are a number of other programs with similar
goals that have emerged in recent years. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, high school students at the city's
Penn Charter School partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and EPA to investigate one of the
city's oldest and most storied brownfields—the 32-acre, former Atwater Kent radio manufacturing facility.
Students there performed basic environmental assessments and created a detailed brochure on the
property's history.
The Heartland Foundation, a nonprofit community health organization in St. Joseph, Missouri, created the
"emPower Plant" program in 2004. Their idea was to take an area brownfield—a former power company
facility—and turn it into a youth development center, working with schools to promote student self-
empowerment and community involvement. Heartland was awarded a $200,000 EPA Brownfields Cleanup
grant that is being used to remove petroleum hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, and other
contaminants from the property. Once redevelopment is complete, this initial emPower Plant facility could
involve as many as 15,000 area students per year.
In Southeast Michigan, Washtenaw County and Creative Change Educational Solutions, a local nonprofit
organization, developed a high school course on land use, public policy, and regional sustainability. Titled
"Lessons from the Land," the course addresses local history, demographic trends, economic policies, water
quality issues, redevelopment planning, and sustainable community design. In 2006, the program was
implemented in six county high schools, drawing the participation of more than 300 students. Creative
Change provided support and guidance for the eight high school teachers who added the course to their
science and social studies curricula.
The emergence of these and other youth programs illustrate that brownfields have come to be viewed as
opportunities to be addressed through community involvement, rather than as unwanted properties with
unknown environmental issues, as they were in years past. For students involved in programs like Our Town,
and for scouts earning their Brownfield Buster patches, an idle brownfield will always be seen as a chance
to better a community through the property's revitalization and sustainable reuse.
Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA 560-F-07-217
Brownfields Youth Involvement and Emergency June 2007
Response (5105T) www.epa.gov/
brownfields/
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