LAND REVITALIZATION FACT SHEET
GREEN NFRASTRUCTURE
EPA \s helping several communities
explore opportunities for imple-
menting green infrastructure on
vacant land, infill sites, and contami-
nated properties.
Green infrastructure involves the use of
landscape features to store, infiltrate,
and evaporate stormwater. This reduces
the amount of water draining into sewers
and helps reduce the discharge of pollut-
ants into area water bodies. Examples
of green infrastructure include rain
gardens, swales, constructed wetlands,
and permeable pavements.
Building green infrastructure on unde-
rused and vacant properties, including
brownfields, can be an innovative
environmental solution that goes be-
yond conventional regulatory fixes for
controlling stormwater runoff. Green in-
frastructure also can provide important
environmental and socio-economic
benefits to communities, regardless of
whether the communities have sepa-
rate sewers or combined sewer systems
(see box below).
In Region 7, EPA and the Iowa Depart-
ment of Agriculture and Land Survey
sponsored a green infrastructure work-
shop for local governments in Septem-
ber 2010 that focused on how to apply
green infrastructure techniques to the
former stockyard properties in Sioux
City, Iowa.
NEW ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS
ERA's land revitalization initiatives are producing significant environmental
benefits and helping to transform communities into more sustainable and
livable places. The strategy of encouraging market-driven redevelopment of
brownfields and other contaminated sites for economic reuse is proving to
be a successful approach at many sites. However, challenging real estate
markets and economic realities can leave some formerly contaminated
properties unused, possibly for a long time. New approaches are needed
to revitalize these sites and protect human health and the environment.
ERA's Land Revitalization Team is working with communities, states, other
federal agencies, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and the
private sector to develop and test new approaches that recognize valu-
able reuse alternatives for formerly contaminated properties. Building
green infrastructure to help manage stormwater runoff and floods, promot-
ing safe soil management to support urban agriculture, and siting renew-
able energy on contaminated sites can bring environmental, ecological,
and social benefits to communities. Unlocking the potential value of these
underused properties often requires creativity and close collaboration with
many public and private partners. These projects can help stabilize com-
munities and spur economic development.
In Region 5, EPA is working with cities
such as Cincinnati and Cleveland that
are investing in green infrastructure
as an element of their CSO long-term
control programs. Both cities are work-
ing on huge new public works projects
to reduce CSO discharges and protect
area waters. These communities and
the regulatory agencies recognize the
important role that land revitalization
can play in controlling water pollution
from stormwater runoff.
Building green infrastructure on underuti-
lized parcels in urban areas can simulta-
neously help cities reduce CSO dis-
charges, stormwater runoff, and reduce
the amount of vacant property, while
creating greenspace and public ameni-
ties that contribute to neighborhood
revitalization. The goal is to find solutions
that can become true community invest-
ments—in the environment and in social
and economic development—that yield
benefits in the "triple bottom line."
Many communities in the U.S. have separate sewer systems. One set of sewer pipes conveys wastewater to treatment plants
before discharging it into nearby lakes and rivers. A second set of pipes conveys stormwater from rain events, which is
discharged into receiving waters, generally without treatment. Stormwater typically contains pollutants such as bacteria,
nutrients, and oil and grease, that wash off streets and parking lots and other surfaces during rain events. The large volumes
of stormwater and pollutants being discharged can have substantial adverse effects on
lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands.
Some communities have only one set of sewer pipes that handle both wastewater and storm-
water. These combined sewer systems can convey wastewater and stormwater to area treatment
plants in dry weather, but during rain events there is too much volume for the sewers to handle. |_^j
The sewers overflow, releasing a mixture of stormwater and untreated wastewater into receiving
waters. These discharges, called combined sewer overflows (CSOs), are a major water pollu-
tion concern for the approximately 772 cities in the U.S. that have combined sewer systems. I
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CLEVELAND'S PROJECT CLEAN LAKE
In late 2010, EPA, the U.S. Depart-
ment of Justice, and the Northeast
Ohio Regional Sewer District (NE-
ORSD) agreed on a plan to ad-
dress the flow of untreated sewage
into Cleveland area waterways
and Lake Erie by capturing and
treating more than 98 percent of
wet weather flows entering the
combined sewer system servicing
Cleveland and 59 adjoining com-
munities.
Project Clean Lake is a $3 billion,
25-year plan. As part of this plan,
the sewer district will invest at least
$42 million in green infrastructure
projects.
Under Project Clean Lake, NEORSD
will reuse brownfields and vacant
properties for green infrastructure,
which is expected to assist in the re-
vitalization of targeted urban neigh-
borhoods. The sewer district will work
with the Cleveland and Cuyahoga
County land banks to transform the
area's numerous vacant or aban-
doned properties to runoff control
landscape uses. The sewer district will
collaborate with governments and
local community groups to select the
Mill Creek Falls, Cleveland
locations and types of green infra-
structure projects.
CiNciNNATi' s LICK RUN CORRIDOR
In Cincinnati, the Metropolitan Sewer
District (MSD) reached an agreement
on a substantial list of projects to
reduce CSO discharges. The agree-
ment allows the sewer district to sub-
stitute green infrastructure solutions
for conventional "grey infrastructure"
control measures, provided the same
level of CSO control can be ensured.
MSD is working on plans for several
projects that involve using green
infrastructure to meet CSO control
commitments. EPA's Brownfields and
Land Revitalization programs are pro-
viding significant assistance to MSD
during its planning work.
One project MSD is evaluating is in
the South Fairmont area of Cincin-
nati, in a corridor known as Lick Run.
MSD is exploring strategies to keep
stormwater out of the combined
sewer system. Instead, stormwater will
be conveyed to Mill Creek via a new
above-ground channel. This will free up
capacity in the sewer system and re-
duce CSO discharges. The new green
corridor would be a significant amenity
for the neighborhood and could spark
commercial and economic revitaliza-
tion in the area. EPA Brownfields and
Land Revitalization funds are being
used to support MSD's planning work,
including site assessments of properties
in the corridor and planning of action
steps to bring H
the concept
to fruition.
EPA invited
the U.S.
Department
of Housing
and Urban
Development and the Department of
Transportation to help focus transpor-
tation and community development
resources on the affected neighbor-
hood. This interagency partnership
is an outgrowth of a national Sus-
tainable Communities Partnership
among the three agencies. The
agencies hope to develop a strat-
egy to increase habitat, clean up
brownfields, and reduce the supply
of vacant land in the area.
Lick Run Corridor Proposed Plan
MORE INFORMATION:
Visit EPA's green infrastructure web site at http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm7programjd = 298
Visit EPA's Land Revitalization program web site at http://www.epa.gov/landrevitalization/
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA 560-F-11-007
April 2011
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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