IN
THIS ISSUE:
New Jail Opens on Former Brownfield Site in Richmond, IN Source: Brownfields Bulletin, Issue 26
From 1842 until 1997, the Swayne, Robinson & Co. Foundry
operated in downtown Richmond, Wayne County, IN. A former
gray-iron foundry, the facility manufactured farm implements
and other machinery, and was the oldest family-owned foundry
in America. A fire in March 1999 destroyed a large part of
the structure and the owners declared bankruptcy, leaving
drums full of unknown liquids in the building. The deteriorating
condition of the building allowed easy access, and signs
of trespassers were obvious.
Wayne County applied for a Brownfield Environmental Assessment
from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM)
in March 1999 and IDEM conducted an environmental investigation.
Results of the investigation indicated low levels of arsenic,
polychlorinated biphenyls, and dieldrin in the soil, and
low levels of ethylbenzene in one ground water sample.
Wayne County agreed to purchase the site from Swayne, Robinson & Co.
for $15,000 waiving the taxes owed on the property and the
environmental cleanup cost if the cleanup did not exceed
$100,000. The County took possession of the property in June
2000.
Based on results of the environmental reports and risk assessment,
IDEM issued a Comfort Letter to the county in August 2002,
indicating that the property was suitable for redevelopment.
Today, the site is home to the Wayne County Jail, capable
of holding up to 418 inmates. Prisoners were transferred
to the new jail in August of this year. Many local residents
were initially opposed to building the new jail at the site.
However, the site’s convenient location to the courthouse
and other county offices made sense, and its aesthetically
pleasing design enhanced the area, rather than detracting
from it as originally feared. The increased size of the new
jail will allow the county to rent cell space to other counties
and the state, thus bringing in additional revenue to the
community.
The Wayne County Jail is another example of a successfully
redeveloped brownfields.
Photographs available at http://www.in.gov/idem/land/brownfields/bulletin/26/highlight.html
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EPA Solicits Proposals for Brownfields Grants Contact: Dave Ryan 202-564-7827 / ryan.dave@epa.gov
EPA is now accepting proposals for up to 200 brownfields
assessment, revolving loan fund, and cleanup grants, contingent
on availability of funds in the Agency's fiscal year 2005
budget. The deadline for proposals is November 12, 2004.
These grants are authorized by the Small Business Liability
Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002, to help
states and communities around the country to assess, clean
up, and revitalize brownfield sites. These grants may be
used to address sites contaminated by petroleum and hazardous
substances (including substances mixed with petroleum.)
A brownfield site is 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.
The brownfields assessment grants (each funded up to
$200,000 over two years) provide funding for a grant recipient
to inventory, characterize and assess sites, and to conduct
planning and community involvement.
The revolving loan fund grants (each funded up to $1
million over five years) provide funding for a grant recipient
to capitalize a revolving loan fund and to provide subgrants
to carry out cleanup activities.
The cleanup grants (each funded up to $200,000 over two
years) provide funding for a grant recipient to carry out
cleanup activities at sites owned by the grant recipient.
For more detailed information and assistance regarding
the application process, contact http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/applicat.htm#pg
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The Green Lady A
landmark brownfields law mutates into a massive tax giveaway
to the Times and other big developers.
By Elizabeth Cady
Brown, City Limits MONTHLY, September/October
2004
In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Hasidic, Latino and African-American
Residents are locked in a ferocious battle for living space.
Yet 12 acres on the border between East Williamsburg and
Bushwick stand empty, save for barbed-wire fences and tangled
weeds. The flat, bare land looks tantalizingly easy to build
homes on, but the problem is what lies beneath. The soil
contains a toxic mix of chemical pollutants that seeped underground
during the neighborhood’s manufacturing days.
There are an estimated 7,000 plots like this across New
York City – contaminated by industry and scattered
mainly in economically depressed parts of the boroughs. These
brownfields can sit festering and vacant for decades because
the cost of assessing, cleaning, and insuring an environmentally
degraded site simply overwhelms the value of any potential
development.
A long-awaited state law, the 2003 Brownfields Cleanup
Program, is supposed to change all that. “Our focus
was enhancing environmental protections and public health,” says
the legislation’s lead sponsor, State Assembly member
Tom DiNapoli. “Related to that purpose is showing there
is a way to have a rigorous environmental program that succeeds
from the economic point of view. We want to create opportunities
for putting nonproductive properties back to productive use.”
But nine months since the program’s launch, New York
City’s applications are primarily being filed by big
developers doing expensive projects on sites that have been
in continuous use, are likely to have mild if any toxic contamination,
and indeed were already being developed before the law was
signed. One application came from Forest City Ratner and
its partner the New York Times Company for its $850 million
headquarters in Times Square. Another brownfields application
was filed by the Related Companies, for its plan to turn
the 34-acre Bronx Terminal Market into a $300 million retail
center.
More Info - Read
Entire Article
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Project Freedom, Lawrence Township, New Jersey Project Freedom at Lawrence is a 54-unit apartment complex
and community center designed and constructed especially
for adults with disabilities. This is the third complex Project
Freedom has developed in Mercer County; other locations include
Robbinsville and Hamilton Township.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT) owned
this vacant, 13-acre site for 50 years. DOT intended to use
this lot as a roadway until Lawrence Township acquired the
property. Project Freedom and the Township negotiated a 75-year
lease with a deed restriction for affordable housing. Surrounding
residential zones, access to bus service, and its proximity
to various shopping centers created an ideal setting for
this project.
The development was almost scrapped, however, when construction
revealed contaminated historic fill on the property. During
construction, large quantities of ash and demolition debris
were found 8 feet below grade. This was a turning point for
Project Freedom, which felt it did not have the resources
to address the contamination. It took a true group effort,
spearheaded by Project Freedom, Tracee Battis of the New
Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA), the New
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and
others to come up with the knowledge and resources required
to handle the $1 million remediation. HMFA eagerly provided
coordination, while DEP case manager, Chris Dwyer, offered
technical guidance and approved the project plan within one
month of submittal.
Under Dwyer’s direction, Project Freedom was able
to solve the problem of residual soil contamination with
an engineering control. The building’s concrete slab
will serve as a cap for the low-level contamination remaining
after 2,000 yards of contaminated soil was excavated and
disposed off site. A No Further Action (NFA) letter for the
contaminated soil will be issued upon the submission of a
finalized deed notice.
Project Freedom at Lawrence has been a tremendous success.
Upon its opening in November 2003, 50% of the units were
filled and by January 2004, only 1 of the 54 units remained
unoccupied.
To see photographs and learn more about this project, visit http://www.state.nj.us/dep/srp/brownfields/success/proj_freedom/
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Bronx Brownfield to Become Waterfront Park Reprinted from the Environmental News Service, September
16, 2004
Gov. George Pataki says the state will spend more than
$8 million in Environmental Restoration Program (ERP) grants
from the 1996 Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act to clean up
brownfields sites in six communities. The largest grant by
far, the $6.6 million will be spent to remediate the Barretto
Point site, located at Viele Ave. and Manida St. in the Hunts
Point section of the Bronx, one of the five boroughs of New
York City.
To the west of the Bronx River along the East River, Barretto
Point is a 13-acre brownfield property on the waterfront
owned by the city. Developed for industrial purposes in the
1950s, it was formerly occupied by an asphalt plant, a sand
and gravel operation, and a paint and varnish manufacturer.
The remediation will include excavation and off-site disposal
of contaminated soil; installation of a two-foot soil cover;
groundwater extraction and treatment; and institutional controls.
When remedial action is complete, a public waterfront park
will be created on the five-acre northwestern portion of
the site. The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation
has applied for a state permit to create a salt marsh in
a cove between an existing pier and the western shore of
the park. A small jetty to protect the new salt marsh plantings
will be constructed. The Parks Department proposes to expand
a small sand beach along the park’s eastern cove by
relocating the shoreline landward 40 to 50 feet. A boat launch
west of the Tiffany St. pier will be constructed.
Ultimately, the new Barretto Point Park may include a grass
and stone amphitheater, reconstructed revetment, a waterfront
promenade, sand volleyball, large lawn areas, sand and pebble
beaches, and an observation tower. The remainder of the site
is intended for use as an area for the upgrade of the Hunts
Point Water Pollution Control plant.
The other five ERP grants were awarded to the city of Poughkeepsie,
the city of Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County, the Oneida County
Industrial Development Agency, and the Syracuse Housing Authority,
and the city of New York.
Gov. Pataki said, “Across New York State, brownfields
offer tremendous opportunities to protect our precious open
spaces and natural resources while promoting new economic
development and job creation within our communities. These
grants will provide local governments with the resources
they need to reclaim and redevelop these properties for the
benefit of the entire community.”
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