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o Redeveloping Brownfields to
| Enhance a Community's Long-term
^ Quality of Life
Brownfields Cleanup and Reuse:
Sustaining Reuse
PA's Brownfields Program is designed to empower states,
communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to
work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up,
and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a property, the
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by
the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance,
pollutant, or contaminant. EPA's Brownfields Program provides
financial and technical assistance for brownfield revitalization,
including grants for environmental assessment, cleanup, and job
training.
Linking the Economy and the Environment:
Recognizing the Value of Sustainable
Development
In the years prior to EPA's Brownfields Program, communities dealt with
a steady loss of greenspace as land development crept further outward
from the urban core. Along with that sprawl came the proliferation of
abandoned, former commercial and industrial sites as well as declines in
urban investment, property taxes, and employment opportunities for city
residents. Communities across the country were negatively affected by
these trends in sprawling development.
While EPA's Brownfields Program has proven success in returning
properties to use—having assessed more than 3,500 properties and
leveraged $3.7 billion in redevelopment funding—the Program has also
made sustainable development one of its primary goals. In the context of
restoring brownfields, sustainable development does not refer solely to
removing potentially hazardous contamination and getting a new business
located on the property. Ultimately, sustainable development means
finding an approach to brownfields reuse that offers the most significant
long-term benefits to the local community—taking into account
economic, environmental, and other quality of life measures.
EPA's Brownfields Program recognizes that, ideally, property reuse plans
should consider the environmental, economic, and other quality of life
On a former brownfield, a 2,700 foot-
long boardwalk runs through natural
habitat in Cape Charles, Virginia.
Ultimately, sustainable
development means finding
an approach to brownfields
reuse that offers the most
significant long-term benefits
to the local community-
taking into account
economic, environmental,
and other quality of life
measures.
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needs of the community and provide market incentives toward reuses that will meet those needs.
The social structure, economy, and environment of a community are all interconnected, and any
property reuse plans should reflect this synergy. The grants awarded through
EPA's Brownfields Program have proven that redevelopment can be at
once ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable—leading to
the creation of eco-industrial parks, other green building designs,
new greenspaces or other nonprofit facilities, as well as the
restoration of ecologically sensitive areas. These projects have
not only enhanced the quality of life for local residents but,
through their design, will continue to offer those benefits in the
years to come—hopefully breaking the cycle of property
contamination and abandonment.
Promoting Green Reuses to Benefit the
Environment and Community
~	.	.	Cleanup in progress on a former industrial site
Cape Charles, Virginia, a small, picturesque town on the southern	in ciearwater, Florida,
tip of Virginia's Eastern Shore, is a model how ecology works in
tandem with industry, enabling both to thrive. An EPA Brownfields Assessment Pilot award
funded environmental assessments of a 25-acre, former junkyard selected as the center of a new
200-acre eco-industrial park. The design and development process for the park began with
community-wide interactive workshops where local residents offered feedback.
The park's first building, which was funded with a $2.5 million county bond, was a 30,930-square-
foot facility that included a solar electric roof system. The largest of its kind in North America, this
roof is capable of generating 42 kilowatts of power for the building's tenants. Wetlands were
installed around the building as a natural landscaping enhancement, and the facility features indoor
air quality monitoring, skylights for natural lighting, and porous storm water runoff chutes. One of
the building's first tenants was Solar Building Systems, a company that manufactures the same
photovoltaic panels used in the roof system. Solar Building Systems hired 30 local residents to
assemble panels. Many of these workers had been laid off from a local crab processing plant,
where they developed a manual dexterity that translated perfectly to their newjobs.
In addition to the economic benefits of this project, nearly one-half of the land in the park was set
aside as natural habitat, including a 30-acre Coastal Dune Natural Area Preserve and
approximately 60 acres of other natural areas. The entire park, including walkways, trails, and a
Chesapeake Bay overlook, is now open to the public. Cape Charles' eco-industrial park is a
genuine example that economic growth and environmental protection can coexist and flourish.
improving the Quality of Life for Local Residents
The Clearwater Brownfields Assessment Pilot target area, with approximately 220 potentially
contaminated commercial, industrial, and residential properties located on more than 1,800 acres,
has the distinction of being the first state-certified brownfields area in Florida. Among
Clearwater's many successful brownfields restoration projects is the site of a former gas station
that was transformed into a free health clinic. This clinic was built to serve the residents of North
Greenwood, the largest minority community in the city, as well as one of the poorest.
Once EPA's Brownfields Pilot had performed assessments on the property, the State of Florida
provided $200,000 for cleanup of underground storage tanks and contaminated soil. Another
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$320,000 from the state paid for construction of the new facility. Representatives of North
Greenwood participated in redevelopment planning and voted unanimously for the city to lease the
property for use as a nonprofit clinic. North Greenwood residents now have a free health facility
offering immunizations, physicals, tests and screenings, flu shots, and health counseling services.
In Dallas, Texas, a brownfields redevelopment boom has produced a new housing and shopping
development, an environmental training and technology center, more than a thousand newjobs,
and a new look for downtown Dallas. Through the efforts of Dallas' EPA Brownfields grant and
a Showcase Community designation, more than $887 million in public and private funding has
been leveraged toward cleanup and redevelopment of the city's blighted areas.
One of these properties was a 2.64-acre vacant lot located in a low-income residential community
that is now home to a recreation center. Professional basketball player Larry Johnson, who grew
up in the neighborhood, donated $1 million to the city for the recreation center's construction. The
city assessed the property's environmental condition and determined that no cleanup would be
required prior to redevelopment. An additional $500,000 was leveraged for the project through
Community Development Block Grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development. The recreation center is now open to local residents and has a staff of five.
The City of Providence, Rhode Island—which is the recipient of a Showcase Community
designation in addition to its EPA Brownfields grant—has also placed a strong emphasis on
recreational reuses as part of its economic development and community revitalization efforts.
With help from federal, state, and local partners, the Woonasquatucket River Greenway Project
(WRGP) is producing a series of linear parksjoined together by a 6.6-mile bike loop that extends
from downtown Providence to the Johnston City border. The WRGP begins behind the
Providence Place Mall (a brownfield that was once an abandoned railyard) and ends at the
Button Hole Golf Course (another former brownfield).
Community leaders from the neighborhood had the opportunity
to review and comment on technical design drawings for the
park, which will be considered the premiere recreational
site in the area upon its completion in 2004. In addition to
a bike path, the park will feature a play area, a water
park, a skateboarding park, a stage with electricity, a
canoe dock, and a sheltered picnic area. The Button Hole
golf course, a nine-hole course with a driving range,
opened in the summer of 2001, providing many
neighborhood youths with their first ever opportunity to play
the sport. By the end of 2002, local residents will be able to
travel to the Button Hole Golf Course along the new bike
path, on which the Rhode Island Department of Transportation
has Started construction.	The new Larry Johnson Recreation Center
in Dcillcis Tsxcis
In Houston, Texas, a cluster of brownfields located on the city's east
side included a former railroad station, an industrial facility, and a corrugated metal manufacturer.
These properties offered little if any benefit to the surrounding community. Following
assessments and cleanup, this 38-acre group of brownfields has been redeveloped into a 42,000-
seat baseball stadium. This $310 million project has created approximately 223 newjobs and is a
leading force behind the overall revitalization of downtown Houston.
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Sustaining the Philosophy of EPA's Brownfields Program
As the Brownfields Program continues to build successful sustainable
redevelopment models, future projects have examples to follow. The Program's
philosophy is to reflect a model of environmental protection that creates
economically viable, environmentally sound, self-sustaining communities.
Making sure that brownfields redevelopment choices are sustainable is
an essential component of that philosophy. By ensuring that reuses
are environmentally sound while providing local residents with the
greatest possible benefit, the Brownfields Program will continue to
improve the quality of lives in neighborhoods across the country and
prevent the creation of future brownfields.
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