Brownfields Properties Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

This Brownfields Properties Essay example is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need a custom essay or research paper on this topic, please use our writing services. EssayEmpire.com offers reliable custom essay writing services that can help you to receive high grades and impress your professors with the quality of each essay or research paper you hand in.

Brownf ields properties , def ined as “real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant” exist in virtually every urban and rural community across the United States and internationally. Although the exact number of brownfields properties in the United States is unknown, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates more than 450,000 sites exist, ranging in size from less than one acre to several thousand acres.

Brownfields properties may be abandoned, vacant, or underutilized, ranging in size, form, and degree of contamination with former uses such as gas stations, manufacturing plants, dry cleaning facilities, railroads, and residential buildings with asbestos. Some sites have low to moderate levels of contamination. In the United States, properties classified as Superfund sites contain higher levels of environmental contamination, pose significantly greater health and safety risks, and require more extensive remediation. As of February 2006, more than 1,200 contaminated properties in the United States were listed on the EPA’s Superfund National Priorities List.

Brownfields can have negative economic and societal impacts on communities. In addition to the actual or potential health and safety ramifications, brownfields are often considered eyesores due to deteriorated structures, vandalism, and lack of grounds maintenance. These properties reduce property values of surrounding real estate. Many local public officials, however, now see beyond brownfields as liabilities and recognize them as potential assets in comprehensive local development strategies.

Likewise, in the United States, state government agencies regularly work with local officials through a variety of rehabilitation and redevelopment programs. The National Governors Association stated: “There is a compelling economic case for state spending on brownfields. A dollar of state spending produces about 10 times to 100 times more dollars in economic benefits. Expanding the mission of brownfields justifies greater state spending.”

Remediation and redevelopment of brownfields properties results in benefits such as job creation, tax revenue increases, neighborhood revitalization, crime reduction, environmental improvement, and urban sprawl reduction. In many industrialized nations, brownfields redevelopment is considered a vital component to sustainable development. A study by George Washington University for the U.S. Council of Environmental Quality shows that one acre of redeveloped brownfields property saves 4.5 acres of greenfields property undeveloped lands outside of core urban areas that can be preserved from the offset of development. Likewise, rehabilitation and redevelopment of brownfields sites can create substantial employment and return to state or city investment. A 1999 study by the Council for Urban Economic Development (CUED), for instance, shows that $1 invested by the public sector in brownfields redevelopment generated $3.41 in private investment. In 2005, an Illinois study of 37 brownfields projects reported that every $1 invested by the city resulted in $4.17 in private investment and 66 jobs created or retained.

Many environmental remediation methods exist, and the specific process used depends on several factors: type and location of contamination, concentration of the contaminant, planned future use of the property, and cleanup standards required by regulatory programs. For instance, property planned for residential use requires higher cleanup standards than property intended for industrial or commercial uses.

Remediation techniques take several forms: physical, chemical, biological, thermal, solidification/stabilization, encapsulation, and monitoring. Innovative techniques including in-place oxidation, bioremediation, and phytoremediation are becoming more common. These methods involve the use of agents, live organisms, or plants to decompose, degrade, or otherwise transform the state of the hazardous material, rendering it less harmful or eliminating it completely. On-site (in situ) treatments such as these are less disruptive to the environment and avoid the risks associated with the removal and transportation of contaminants to waste disposal locations (ex situ or off-site remediation). Increasing attention is being paid to incorporating brownfields properties into environment-friendly programs in cities located in the industrialized world. Innovative, environmentally sound practices were implemented in the remediation and site redevelopment of Chicago’s highly acclaimed Center for Green Technology, constructed on a former brownfields site.

Brownfields site preparation, planning, assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment is facilitated through assorted federal, state, and local level initiatives. The level of assistance offered through brownfields policies and programs varies widely among industrialized nations. In the United States, at the federal level, the financial and technical assistance for brownfields is offered mainly through Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assessment and cleanup programs, and the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI).

Other U.S. federal programs, however, also fund brownfields rehabilitation and redevelopment projects that fit within specific program guidelines. State and local governments offer direct financial assistance such as loans and grants, and indirect assistance through various financial tools such as tax abatements, credits and refunds, low-cost environmental insurance, infrastructure upgrades, job training, and tax increment financing. Brownfields redevelopment projects can involve public investment, private investment, or a combination of the two.

Despite the availability of programs and resources to encourage remediation and redevelopment, many brownfields sites remain undeveloped for several reasons, including shortage of funds, potential liability, and environmental regulations. Contamination can exist in the soil, surface water, groundwater, and/or structures. The extent of contamination, related costs, and resources are often not known until the project is well under way. Potential stakeholders are often reluctant to initiate the redevelopment process because of uncertainty associated with brownfields. By contrast, previously undeveloped land, or greenfields, located on the periphery of development, are often more attractive to developers because of lower risks and costs.

Bibliography:

Ed Gilliland, Brownfields Redevelopment: Per]ormance Evaluation (Council for Urban Economic Development, 1999);
National Governors Association, New Mission ]or Brownfields: Attacking Sprawl by Revitalizing Older Communities (2000);
Norman Walzer and Gisele F. Hamm, Brownfield Investments and Outcomes (Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, 2005);
White House Council on Environmental Quality, “Over 1,000 to Be Trained for Environmental Jobs in Brownfields Communities Nationwide” (CEQ E-Notes, 2004).