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The Connecticut Brownfields Redevelopment Authority (CBRA) is Connecticut's "One-Stop Brownfields Center." Formed in 1999, CBRA is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Connecticut Development Authority (CDA). As a quasi-state organization, CBRA provides access to and coordinates all state, federal, and municipal programs that "finance, encourage, and stimulate the remediation and redevelopment of brownfields." Prior to World War II, manufacturing played a vital role in Connecticut's economy. The state was known worldwide for clocks, pins, thread, hats, buggies, guns, military ordnance, and other products made in mills and factories throughout the state. Many of these historic manufacturing sites lie abandoned or underutilized, thus becoming both eyesores and an economic drain on their communities. Today, the Connecticut Brownfields Redevelopment Authority (CBRA) is making a difference having created a redevelopment program that encourages brownfields redevelopment by reducing costs, eliminating environmental uncertainty, and by simplifying the regulatory process. Through its Brownfield Assessment Grants (BAG) program, CBRA provides up-front cash grants to investors, developers, and business owners who redevelop environmentally impacted properties. The BAG program reimburses municipalities, developers, or investors
for expenses incurred in conducting preliminary investigations of
brownfield properties. Grants of up to $3,000 are available for
Phase I site assessments and grants are limited to $10,000 for Phase
II site assessments. Through this program, there is no cost or risk
to developers or investors, municipalities, or taxpayers. No municipal
tax abatements are required; no municipal debt is incurred. How does this work? A developer, municipal officials, and CBRA agree to the scope of the project and quantify the future incremental municipal property taxes that will be generated by the project. The municipal officials and CBRA agree to the portion of those tax revenues that will be remitted to CBRA. CBRA provides the developer with the grant, the amount of which is determined by the present value of the tax revenues remitted to CBRA. Eligible grant recipients are owners or companies that had no responsibility for a site's environmental contamination. Grant funds may be used for assessment only and do not cover the costs of any required remediation. In addition to administration of the BAG program, CBRA also maintains a database of over 200 Connecticut properties impacted by real or perceived environmental contamination. Most of the properties are located near major highways or rail lines and are ready for easy conversion to state-of-the-art manufacturing, retail, high-tech, office, or multi-use facilities. To learn more about Connecticut brownfields, visit http://www.ctbrownfields.com (The Connecticut Brownfields Redevelopment Authority) or contact Cynthia Petruzzello at 860-258-7884 or via e-mail at Cynthia.Petruzello@po.state.ct.us.
The "Big Dig" project in Boston, Massachusetts will redirect expressway traffic back through previously neglected areas of the city. New entrance and exit ramps for the expressway will open up urban areas and properties that once had little value will now have greater potential for use as shopping and residential properties. An office, residential, and retail campus is planned for the site of the oldest electric generating plant in the city. After a century of various uses, the power station location and surrounding properties were contaminated with lead and petroleum products apparently released from underground storage tanks (USTs). Remediation of the contaminated soils involved recovery of free product, along with cement-based Solidification/Stabilization (S/S) of contaminated soils and fill. The material was treated and reused at the site. Approximately 2,800 cubic yards of material were excavated and treated on-site in a portable S/S treatment plant. Offsite transportation and disposal would have cost the property owner an additional $500,000 over treatment costs. An additional savings of $30,000 was realized through the reuse of the contaminated material as pavement base for a planned parking lot on the property. The dilapidated warehouse-type buildings located between 440 and 580 Harrison Avenue in Boston are being renovated with modern interiors while retaining their historical facades and interesting architectural elements both inside and out. The building at 550 Harrison Avenue is being redeveloped into an office, theater, and retail space. This historic building is the site of the first electric power station for Boston's subway system. At the time it was built in 1890, the power station was the largest in the world. Portland cement-based S/S treatment was selected for the contaminated soils. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers S/S an established treatment technology and has been designated as Best Demonstrated Available Technology (BDAT) for over 50 RCRA-listed hazardous wastes. The technology has found increasing use at brownfield remediation projects since S/S-treated soil may be reused as an engineered fill or pavement base. To learn more about this important technology, visit the one-stop
web site at http://www.cement.org/wt.
You may also contact Charles Wilk, Program Manager, at cwilk@cement.org. Brownfields May be Seeing Green Developers may start seeing green in the region's brownfields, those financially toxic parcels tainted by real or perceived pollution that on one has wanted to touch. That's because the State Senate approved legislation on September 16, 2003, by a vote of 51-9 that will lay out the ground rules for building on abandoned or underused properties, most of them industrial, where chemicals and other contaminants have kept developers at bay. The sites include landfills, old factories, hundreds of acres once used by Northrop Grumman Corp. and the military, and former gasoline stations and dry cleaning shops. The measure, passed by the Assembly in June, includes $135 million in tax credits for brownfields developers. It protects developers of these sites from future liability if they meet cleanup standards, and requires the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to establish what those standards should be. The agency also must decide whether a site will be used for residences or commercial buildings. Agreement for $60 Million Cleanup at Fox River Site Signed The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) have signed an agreement with WTM I (formerly Wisconsin Tissue) and P.H. Glatfelter Company under which the companies will clean up PCB-contaminated sediment in the Little Lake Butte des Morts section of the Lower Fox River. This section of the Lower Fox River, between Lake Winnebago and Appleton, is known as Operable Unit 1 (OU1). "This consent decree requires the two paper mills to perform the cleanup work outlined in the January 2003 Record of Decision," said EPA Regional Administrator Tom Skinner. "It's a strong commitment by the mills and it bodes well for additional agreements that address the rest of the contamination." In addition to performing the cleanup, the companies will be required to pay $3 million for natural resource damages and $1.05 million as partial reimbursement of costs incurred by EPA, WDNR, and the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Little Lake Butte des Morts cleanup plan calls for dredging an estimated 784,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment. Water will be drained from the material, with the water then treated and returned to the river. The dried sediment will be transported an engineered landfill for permanent disposal. Detailed engineering design work for the cleanup has already begun under an earlier agreement with WTM I. EPA and WDNR have estimated the costs of the Little Lake Butte des Morts cleanup work at $61.7 million, plus $4.5 million for long-term monitoring. Savings may result from contributions and cooperation by local municipalities. WTM I and Glatfelter will pay for the work using a specially-dedicated fund that will include $50 million from WTM I and Glatfelter. In addition, $40 million available under a prior settlement with Appleton Paper and NCR, plus interest earned on the money will be placed in the fund. Should the fund be insufficient to finance completion of the cleanup at OU1, the agreement reserves EPA's and WDNR's rights to require WTM I and Glatfelter to perform or pay for the continuation and completion of the work. The terms of the OU1 agreement are contained in a proposed consent decree lodged on October 1, 2003 with the U.S. District Court in Milwaukee. The agreement does not address cleanup work required in the downstream portions of the river and Green Bay, known as Operable Units 2 through 5. EPA and WDNR are in ongoing discussions with the paper companies concerning that cleanup work. Information is also available online at http://www.epa.gov/region5/sites/foxriver and http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/wm/lowerfox/. Historic Old Northampton Fire Station Redeveloped Once abandoned and blighted, the old Northampton Fire Station located at 60 Masonic Street, Northampton, Massachusetts has been transformed into a multi-use building and community resource. The Northampton Fire Station has held a central place in Northampton's history since 1872. Designed by a well-known local architect, William Fenno Pratt, the building was constructed to provide a permanent home for the local fire company. Although renovated and enlarged since 1872, the building retained its distinctive features - two towers (one tower was used to dry the fire hoses), several large garage bays that housed fire engines, and a patterned cornice that frames the front façade. Located in an urban, downtown section of Northampton, the site is approximately 13,000 square feet in size and was city-owned from the mid- to late-1800s. After ceasing operations as a fire station in June 1999, the city used the main building and a smaller storage building to house office equipment and small tools for city maintenance. Periodically, the second floor of the building was used as an overflow shelter for the Interfaith Community Cot Shelter. EPA New England conducted Phase I and Phase II environmental site
assessments (ESAs) on behalf of the city of Northampton, Massachusetts,
through the Targeted Brownfields Assessment (TBA) program. The results
of the ESAs indicated a contaminated "hot spot" in the
subsurface soil that contained petroleum possibly commingled with
coal, coal ash, and wood ash. The Cleanup Options Study/Cost Estimate
completed in February 2001, estimated the cost of cleanup to range
between $32,800 and $41,300. The city of Northampton hired a consultant
to conduct an environmental assessment of the "hot spot"
and discovered that levels of contamination were below the state
standards, thus no cleanup was required to redevelop the property. Redevelopment of the Old Northampton Fire Station has enabled Media Education Foundation to expand its educational services to provide on-site violence prevention and media literacy training for educators, law enforcements, and social workers from both the local region and across the nation. The renovation of this historic building will not only allow MEF to continue to grow and give back to its community, but will also result in added vitality to the core of downtown Northampton. To learn more about this site, visit http://www.epa.gov/ne/brownfields/success/northampton_fire_station.htm. Visit Brownfields Spotlight Archives |
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