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| Brownfields Weekly |
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May 3, 2001 IN THIS ISSUE:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The goal of Brownfields Weekly is to build a bridge of communication between everyone in our industry. If you have a friend or colleague who might like to subscribe to the Brownfields Weekly newsletter, please tell them about us. We'd like to know what you think about Brownfields Weekly. Write to the editors at the address below: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Third Annual Brownfields Summit - June 18, 2001 in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AIG Environmental will convene the 3rd Annual Brownfields Summit on June 18th at the Chamber HQ location (1615 H Street, NW) in Washington, D.C. The Summit will focus on efforts to enact and implement national Brownfields legislation. One of the event's highlights will be Let's Make A Deal, bringing together local governments, developers, the financial community, and government agencies to broker Brownfields redevelopment deals. For the preliminary agenda and a registration form, please visit the Summit web site: For more details, e-mail Brent Inscoe at brownfields@uschamber.com or call (202) 822-2481.
Cape Fear Soccer Association to Develop 16 Fields on Former Landfill Wilmington, NC - State officials and board members of the Cape Fear Youth Soccer Association (CFYSA) announced plans to develop the old Flemington Landfill into the Cape Fear Regional Soccerplex with 16 tournament soccer fields. The 65-acre project is being heralded as a premiere example of redevelopment under the North Carolina Brownfield Program, the state program through which abandoned, idled, or underused properties with environmental problems from past site activities are being safely redeveloped. CFYSA expects to close on the property no later than May 31, 2001. The Soccerplex is scheduled to open and be hosting regional soccer tournaments as soon as Spring, 2002. Financing for the project is provided by Centura Bank. Representative Danny McComas, the primary sponsor of the brownfield legislation, was on hand to make the announcement. “This shows what can happen when common-sense legislation is enacted. This project is the result of a collaborative effort between environmentalists, regulatory authorities and business,” said Rep. McComas. Chairman of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners Ted Davis said, “We’ve long recognized the need for more athletic fields in our county, and in this time of serious budget constraints, we are delighted that Cape Fear Soccer is independently addressing this need in such an exciting and progressive manner.” In fact, adapting former landfills to athletic facilities is not a new venture. Several such projects have already been completed in North Carolina, though not under the auspices of the brownfield statute. In Charlotte, two landfills have been converted to municipal golf courses. In Raleigh, the Western Blvd. Landfill on the Dix campus was converted into ten Capital Area Soccer League fields. And in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Mount Trashmore is a landfill that’s been converted to a full blown municipal park. But, as NC Director of Waste Management Bill Meyer said, “This is the first such project in our state when an independent, non-governmental body, has developed a landfill for athletic use. The value of the Cape Fear Regional Soccerplex - from benefiting the area’s children, to setting a standard for future brownfield sites - cannot be overstated.” Cape Fear Soccer Association has long needed additional fields as their soccer rosters grew. The need for more soccer fields was among the reasons New Hanover County Commissioners floated a bond referendum in May, 2000, offering voters the opportunity to designate $45 million to purchase land for open space, parks, recreation facilities and athletic fields. Cape Fear Soccer Association lobbied for the bond and encouraged voter support only to see the bond fail at the polls. The project announced last Friday is expected to cost approximately $2.7 million which will be completely funded by CFYSA, its benefactors, sponsors and grants. The association has already begun soliciting sponsorships for individual fields, picnic areas, playgrounds, concessions stands and the overall complex. In addition to purchasing the property, CFYSA will need to make numerous land improvements. Grading, irrigation, landscaping, seeding and construction of concession stands, restrooms, playground equipment, administrative offices and bleachers, as well as paving for roads and parking are necessary. In addition to the 16 fields, the facility will also include a 1.5 mile walking/jogging/cross country trail and several picnic areas. For more information on the Cape Fear Youth Soccer Association brownfields project, call 910-392-0306.
Sweden Legislates for Sustainability Stockholm, SWEDEN (ENS) - The Swedish government underlined its determination to make Sweden the world's most environmentally sustainable nation by proposing a series of legal targets and deadlines for implementing 15 over-arching environmental quality objectives adopted in 1999. Designed to achieve environmental sustainability within one generation, the new environmental quality objectives bill sets out about 60 "concrete measures and strategies" to achieve 14 of the 15 quality objectives by 2010. Government funding for environmental protection is to rise by 70 percent by 2004. Last month the finance ministry pledged only a 25 percent rise in green spending by then. Under the new plan, at least 50 of the 100 highest priority contaminated sites are to be completely remediated by 2005. The current planning and building act is to be reviewed based on strategies aimed at cutting car use and making energy consumption more efficient. Several elements in the draft law go further than existing policies. To achieve the objective of clean air, for example, the government pledges to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions by "at least" 7,000 tonnes per year more than required under either the UN Gothenburg Protocol or the draft European Union national emission ceilings directive. Emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds are to be cut by 44 percent by 2010 compared with today. The government says it is "raising the stakes" on forest protection by providing long term protection for a further 900,000 hectares (3,474 square miles). An existing national plan for protecting wetlands is to be implemented in its entirety by 2010, which means safeguards for a further 300 sites. To achieve "zero eutrophication," nitrogen discharges to the Baltic Sea are to be cut by at least 30 percent by 2010. From next year the government is to pay an extra 1.6 million euros to reduce lake and river acidity. Furthermore, half of the entire water environment should be placed under long term protection by 2010. Oil discharges to the sea are to be negligible by 2010, for which there will be additional funding of 50 million Swedish krona per year from 2004. Monitoring progress under the law is to be the responsibility of a new environmental quality objectives council, using a new system of environmental indicators. The government will report to parliament annually, with "a fundamental review" every four years.
"Finding Buried Treaures and Completing Transactions" - May 18, 2001 On May 18, 2001, Bridgeport Continuing Education will host a one day conference at the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles called "Real Estate Transactions Involving Contaminated Properties: Finding Buried Treasures and Completing Transactions." The conference will address the main obstacles that hinder real estate transactions, ranging from former gas stations or dry cleaners to complex, multiple-party developments. This panel of experts' strategies for overcoming environmental hurdles will benefit everyone in the brownfields industry - real estate professionals, attorneys, lenders, investors, owners, and accountants. For more information on the conference in Los Angeles on May 18, visit: To register, call 800-307-0470.
Read "The Renaissance of the New American City" With the recent results of Census 2000, confirming the urban population is increasing dramatically in some cities, the Conference of U.S. Mayors believes cities across the United States are in the midst of a new urban renaissance. In the U.S. Mayors report,"The Renaissance of the New American City," Executive Director J. Thomas Cochran writes, "New businesses, new jobs and new neighborhoods now give the people in our cities a sense of optimism about their future. As a result people are moving back to the cities to participate in this new spirit of opportunity ... This did not happen by accident." For the last decade, mayors across the country have been aggressively pursuing urban development from brownfields to better transportation infrastructure. This 34 page report details the strides that have been made in the following cities: Akron, Ohio; Boston Massachusetts; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Detroit Michigan; Minneapolis, Minnesota; New Orleans, Louisiana; Pasadena, California; Providence, Rhode Island; and Reno, Nevada. To read "The Renaissance of the New American City" visit the link below: NOTE: You'll need Acrobat Reader to read this report. If you don't have it already, download it for free at the link below:
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