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June 6, 2002 THIS WEEK:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- For International Brownfields news and resources, visit Brownfields.com International Partners: BrownfieldSites in the UK and Europe, and aboutREMEDIATION in Canada. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- New EPA Panel to Promote National
Public Dialogue on Superfund WASHINGTON, D.C. - EPA Administrator Christie Whitman announced May 30 the formation of a new advisory panel to make recommendations on the role Superfund should play in addressing the nation's most polluted and costly hazardous waste sites. "Today, Superfund exists alongside other cleanup programs, such as state voluntary cleanups, that did not exist when the statute was created more than 20 years ago," Whitman said. "As we move forward as a country on addressing contaminated sites, we need to consider how all of these cleanup tools can work together in a more effective and unified fashion." The advisory panel is being formed as a Subcommittee to the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT). EPA will request the Subcommittee to consider the scope of the national Superfund program against a backdrop of other federal and state waste cleanup programs. This broader dialogue will consider how the nation's waste programs can work together in a more effective and unified way so that citizens can be assured that federal, state and local governments are working cooperatively to make sites safe for their intended uses. The Subcommittee is being asked to have a public dialogue and reach consensus-based recommendations on three major issues: the role of the National Priorities List in cleaning up the worst Superfund sites; the role of Superfund at so-called "mega sites" -- sites where cleanup costs are expected to exceed $50 million -- and measuring program performance. The first public meeting of the Subcommittee is Tuesday, June 18, and Wednesday, June 19, in Alexandria, Virginia, at the Holiday Inn and Suites at 625 First St. A Federal Register notice will be published soon which provides more information on the meeting, including how the public can offer brief comments on the Superfund program. The subcommittee is expected to hold additional meetings on this issue which will also be open to the public. EPA will provide details of additional meetings as they are established. As with other NACEPT dialogues, a final report from the subcommittee is expected within 12 to 18 months. For further information, please visit the Superfund Subcomittee home page. British Government Directive Creates
a Brownfields Boom BIRMINGHAM, West Midlands, England - Thanks to the aggressive British government directive that 60 percent of all new houses should be built on brownfield sites, builders in the West Midlands have stepped up their search for more brownfields to develop. Richard Wain, Stafford-based specialist with Fisher German's development services team, says the shift in policy to promote development on brownfield as opposed to greenfield sites, has led to a shortage of land for new housing. One of his clients, who rented out an old workshop and garage on the edge of a village for years, can now expect to generate 200,000 pounds from his brownfield site. Another who owned a truck yard near a village could earn in the region of 350,000 pounds. Well-located brownfield sites in the West Midlands, he says, are now exceeding values of 650,000 pounds per acre. He believes that the scarcity of brownfield land is partly because many people don't realize they own a suitable site. Site owners now have a dedicated government ally in the Government's land redevelopment agency, English Partnerships (EP). In March, EP announced that it will focus exclusively on brownfields regeneration. It will also manage a national portfolio of strategic brownfields sites and demonstration projects. Attend "Redeveloping Superfund Sites:
Working with PRPs" - June 14 EPA Region 6, in cooperation with Vita Nuova, is sponsoring a Superfund Redevelopment Workshop For Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) in Houston, June 13. The focus will be on redevelopment as the key to a streamlined, successful, and sustainable cleanup -- with the hope of engaging PRPs and other interested parties working at sites in Region 6. Through this workshop, the benefits of building redevelopment into the cleanup process will be highlighted, creating an opportunity for PRPs to help identify both site-specific and programmatic issues impeding redevelopment. To attend this groundbreaking PRP workshop, please contact Barbara Greenfield, Region 6 Superfund Redevelopment Coordinator: phone (214) 665-3111; email Greenfield.Barbara@epa.gov. "Getting to Smart Growth: 100 Policies
for Implementation" Smart growth provides a solution to the concerns facing many communities about the impacts of the highly dispersed development patterns of the last 50 years. Though supportive of growth, communities are questioning the economic costs of abandoning infrastructure in the city and rebuilding it farther out. They are questioning the necessity of spending increased time in cars locked in traffic and travelling miles to the nearest store. They are questioning the practice of abandoning brownfields in older communities while developing open space and prime agricultural land and thereby damaging our environment at the suburban fringe. As these quality-of-life issues become increasingly important for American communities, local and state policymakers, planners, developers, and others are turning to smart growth as one solution to these challenges. The newest primer in the ongoing series from the Smart Growth Network and International City/County Management Association (ICMA), "Getting to Smart Growth" serves as a roadmap for states and communities that have recognized the need for smart growth, but are unclear on how to achieve it. "Getting to Smart Growth: 100 Policies for Implementation" is available in PDF format online: http://www.smartgrowth.org/pdf/gettosg.pdf. To open PDFs, you'll need Acrobat Reader. New Park Land for Chicago's Chinatown The Chicago Park District and the Trust for Public Land (TPL) this week announced the acquisition of a five-acre addition to the existing Ping Tom Memorial Park located at the north end of Chicago's Chinatown at 19th Street and the Chicago River. The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) donated the new property, north of 18th Street, after extensive environmental testing and commitments for clean up of the former railroad maintenance yard. "Across the country, cities are beginning to see brownfields as opportunities," adds Chris Slattery, Chicago Office Director of the Trust for Public Land. "In Chicago, there is a commitment from all parties to add more parkland to our underserved neighborhoods. Chinatown is a perfect example of what can be accomplished." At the request of the Chicago Park District, the Trust for Public Land helped the City acquire the additional five acres of railroad land owned by BNSF. Leading negotiations to secure the land, TPL has been able to resolve issues regarding the land's transformation from a brownfield to a viable community park as well as secure grant funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the initial environmental assessment work. The triangular-shaped parcel of property is bounded by 18th Street on the south, Wentworth Avenue on the east and by the St. Charles Airline Railroad, in which BNSF has an interest. Once the remediation work is completed later this year, planning for the future use of the site will begin. Concept plans for the new land include the addition of ball fields, soccer fields, a field house and a swimming pool -- amenities that would not fit safely in the existing narrow river-edge park. The former rail site together with another 6-acre parcel of land already owned by the Chicago Park District along the Chicago River will provide the necessary space for these improvements. "The addition of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe property to Ping Tom Park in Chinatown is the culmination of many people's efforts," adds Gene Lee, a long-time neighborhood resident and Deputy Chief of Staff for Mayor Daley. "Working together, BNSF, the Chicago Park District and the Trust for Public Land have taken a major step toward creating an excellent amenity for the community. Celebrating this new addition to Ping Tom Memorial Park is a fitting way to conclude Asian Heritage Month." |