IN
THIS ISSUE:
Brownfields
Grantees Workshop A Success By Phyllis Lewis, Center
for Brownfields Initiatives
plewis@uno.edu
 |
Caitlin
Cain, RPC; Bob Mears, McManus Consulting Engineers; Doug
Bradford, LDEQ; Mike Lockwood and Andy Lydick, Jordan,
Jones & Goulding; Amy Lafont, Planet of the Dreamers
Photograph by Cheryl Gerber |
| |
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Duane
Wilson, LDEQ
Photograph by Nathan Champagne |
This dynamic 2-day workshop presented Louisiana brownfields
coordinators with the opportunity to learn the inside scoop
on federal and state brownfields updates as well as the secrets
to building strong relationships with their local government
officials. Grant writing professionals offered coordinators
ways to improve grant writing skills for increased funding
success. Coordinators also learned strategies for successfully
managing good public relations for their brownfields projects,
and listened to the innovative ideas used in successful brownfields
case studies. “The grantees workshop is an excellent
interactive forum for pilots to learn new techniques, which
they can apply to their brownfields programs,” said
Jonathan Weisberg, Acting Brownfields Coordinator for EPA
Region 6.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ)
and The Center for Brownfields Initiatives at the University
of New Orleans (CBI) hosted the 2nd Annual Louisiana Brownfields
Grantees Workshop May 6-7, 2004 in Metairie, Louisiana. This
annual event focuses on topics and issues of importance to
Louisiana pilots participating in the LDEQ and EPA Brownfields
Initiatives. The workshop was enthusiastically received and
offered valuable information to assist Louisiana brownfields
coordinators in moving forward with their redevelopment efforts.
Louisiana pilots attending the workshop were Baton Rouge,
Gretna, Jefferson Parish, Monroe, New Orleans, Shreveport,
South Central Planning & Development Commission, New Orleans
Regional Planning Commission, West Monroe, and Westwego. Two
Baton Rouge nonprofits, HOPE Community Development Corporation
and Pelican Nest Learning & Resource Center, were welcomed
as new participants in the program.
Following the success of the recent grantees workshop, CBI
turns their efforts to planning the brownfields real estate
fair, hosted by LDEQ and CBI, which will occur in Fall 2004.
The real estate fair will feature available brownfields properties
and bring together realtors, bankers, developers, and others
interested in potential redevelopment opportunities.
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$25.3 Million
Available through HUD's BEDI Program
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced
the start of the 2004 competition under the Brownfields Economic
Development Initiative (BEDI) Program. The deadline for BEDI
applications is July 15, 2004.
Since 1998, HUD has provided grants of up to $2 million for
redevelopment activities at brownfield sites through this
program. BEDI grants must be used for projects or activities
also assisted with loans provided under HUD's Section 108-guaranteed
loan program. BEDI is designed to help communities redevelop
abandoned or underutilized property where redevelopment is
complicated by the presence or potential presence of environmental
contamination.
Although BEDI is an economic development initiative, projects
can generally include any activities eligible under the regulations
for the Section 108 loan guarantee program (see 24 CFR 570.703).
Each BEDI application will be rated against the selection
criteria provided in HUD's 2004 SuperNOFA application guidelines.
For application requirements and more information about the
BEDI program, please visit HUD's websites at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/nofa04/grpecond.cfm
and http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/economicdevelopment/programs/bedi/index.cfm.
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Cashing
in on Brownfields
Expanding border will benefit some, but others see red
over “blight.”
By Noelle C. Haner, Staff Writer, Orlando Business Journal,
May 14, 2004 print edition.
Downtown Orlando doesn’t look like a brownfields. But,
Orlando wants to give just that designation to the entire
district covered by the city’s Community Redevelopment
Agency.
The next Orlando City Council meeting will bring it one step
closer. A hearing will be held to incorporate The Pizzuti
Company’s City Center property into the current brownfield
overlay area, dubbed the Downtown Economic Enhancement District.
The move could pump hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax
incentives and refunds into downtown development area.
However, the move and others like it around the state have
raised the ire of brownfield advocates.
Many see the practice as an abuse to the system, especially
if the designation is being made primarily as a way to leverage
state economic development dollars.
“It’s a trend that is very worrisome,”
says Michael Goldstein, chairman of the Florida Brownfields
Association. “It’s an issue I’m going to
raise later this year through the association.”
For the entire story, see http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2004/05/17/story1.html.
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Great
Idea Gone Bad? Critics say officials, builders
cutting corners in rush to rehab brownfields.
By Alexander Lane, Newshouse News Service (The Jersey
Journal)
The movement to redevelop old industrial sites, or “brownfields,”
has earned widespread praise for its potential to spur toxic
cleanups, revive city neighborhoods and protect undeveloped
land.
Gov. James E. McGreevey has poured hundreds of millions of
public dollars into the effort, backed by a broad coalition
that includes builders, environmentalists and urban advocates.
But a number of recent deals have starkly demonstrated the
possible downsides of brownfields development.
Last month came news that McGreevey’s administration
was considering warehouse development on a Kearny site so
toxic it qualified for the Superfund list, a plan that has
outraged environmentalists.
That came on the heels of revelations that former Gov. Jim
Florio and some partners cut a deal for a bargain price on
a publicly owned brownfield in Jersey City, prompting other
builders to cry political favoritism.
And even a much-touted plan to top old trash dumps in the
Meadowlands with golf courses, hotel and homes – which
McGreevey broke ground on last week – has been marred
by controversy, with environmentalists and even state experts
raising questions about its safety.
Such deals have fueled concerns that well-intentioned policies
designated to promote brownfields redevelopment can lead to
insufficient cleanups of contaminated sites, projects that
fail to meet urban needs, and deals tainted by political corruption
– with the public helping foot the bill.
These problems seem to be on the rise nationally, as states
try ever harder to encourage brownfield redevelopment and
developers reach for sites passed over during the first few
years of the brownfields movement because of complex contamination.
“Brownfields development is a great thing,” said
Lenny Siegel, executive director of the Center for Public
Environmental Oversight, a Washington, D.C. organization that
advises community groups dealing with toxic sites. “But
when it’s not done right, there are these major drawbacks,
like inadequate cleanup and improper end use. We see the same
problems all over the country.”
For the entire story, see http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1085562762279420.xml.
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Dark Shade,
PA Lights Way to Reuse of Mine-scarred Land
Many mining communities face a unique set of environmental
and economic complications. While no exception, the Dark Shade
watershed, which includes the Borough of Central City and
Shade Township, is using the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) Brownfields Program as a platform to innovatively
address the challenges of reusing mine-scarred land. By involving
the community, mining companies, the U.S. Department of Interior's
Office of Surface Mining (OSM), and other key organizations,
the Borough of Central City pilot is making the cleanup and
redevelopment of the Dark Shade watershed a reality.
Before World War II, the Appalachian region of the United
States provided the primary resources to fuel growing industry
throughout the nation, but when the demand for coal decreased,
the economic and environmental conditions of mining communities
declined. "Coal country" faces numerous and collectively
distinct obstacles such as mine-scarred land, severely distressed
local economies, and real or perceived environmental contamination.
Additionally, many of these communities are impacted by Acid
Mine Drainage (AMD) caused from runoff water building up in
abandoned deep mines and filtering through coal refuse piles
left by coal companies. The result is runoff water with high
levels of acidity and heavy metals. After mining operations
were shut down, local economies declined. Jobs became scarce
and poverty levels reached well above national statistics
as mining jobs decreased from more than 20,000 jobs in 1950
to just 1,500 mining jobs in 1995.
AMD & ART, a non-profit organization focused on creative
and artful approaches to the cleanup of AMD, partnered with
the communities of Central City and Shade Township to explore
innovative ways of cleaning up Dark Shade. The partnership
developed a "watershed approach" that focused on
the designation of the entire Dark Shade watershed as one
contaminated and targeted property. Its effectiveness is based
on the fact that entire watersheds become contaminated with
mining wastes through AMD. The partnership successfully used
this approach to earn the first EPA Brownfields Assessment
Pilot award to address mine-scarred land.
The watershed approach and the EPA Brownfields Pilot award
enabled the communities of Central City and Shade Township
to work with OSM, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the
Pennsylvania Department of Community Economic Development,
AMD & ART, and coal companies on the cleanup and redevelopment
of sites in the project area. To date, the pilot has leveraged
more than $95,000 in redevelopment funding and $51,086 in
cleanup funding from these organizations.
The Borough of Central City Brownfields Pilot has pioneered
the use of the watershed approach as a tool for leveraging
funding and recognition from numerous federal and state environmental
and economic redevelopment programs. The Brownfields Revitalization
Act specifically cites mine-scarred lands within the definition
of a brownfield. This updated definition creates opportunities
for mine-scarred watersheds like Dark Shade to gain federal
brownfields resources and begin on the path to economic and
environmental recovery.
For more information, contact EPA Region 3 at 800-438-2474
or visit http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/.
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