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| Brownfields Weekly |
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July 12, 2001 IN THIS ISSUE:
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Mayors Call for Immediate Bipartisan House Action on Brownfields Washington, DC - Elizabeth (NJ) Mayor and Conference of Mayors Advisory Board Member J. Christian Bollwage, speaking on behalf of the nation's Mayors, urged the House of Representatives Leadership to craft a bipartisan agreement on brownfields redevelopment. "President Bush has made enactment of brownfields legislation a priority," Bollwage said in testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials. "The United States Senate has voted 99 to zero on its proposal. We need this body to move forward on a bipartisan basis so that we can accelerate our efforts to address this critical national problem." Bollwage maintained that any brownfields bill must address four critical issues:
"It's clear that the Senate found ways to reach broad agreement on these issues," Bollwage said. "We urge this [Subcommittee] to work in the same sprit as the Senate to reach similar broad bipartisan agreements to allow this legislation to move forward." For a copy of Mayor Bollwage's testimony, the recently adopted policy statement on brownfields, and an analysis of the key elements of the Senate bill, visit:
Gulf Nuclear Superfund Cleanup Complete Odessa, TX - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the Texas Bureau of Radiation Control and the city of Odessa announced the cleanup completion of the Gulf Nuclear site, an abandoned radioactive materials processing and waste shipment storage facility near Odessa, Texas. The site cleanup was completed after more than 700,000 pounds of radioactive material was removed and properly disposed of by EPA's Superfund program. Most of the material was shipped to Utah and South Carolina for disposal. This material included laboratory wastes, lab and office equipment, 200 gallons of lead shot, tools, soils, septic tanks, the building slab and the building itself. The site was cleaned to the agency's most stringent health-based standards, which allows unrestricted redevelopment of the property, including residential uses. Gulf Nuclear operated on the site from the mid 1970's to 1992. Although the TBRC maintained security to prevent people from entering the site, it sat abandoned for 8 years. In May 2000, TNRCC requested EPA's assistance in cleaning up the site. Four Mobile Workshops at Brownfields 2001 The International City/County Management Association (ICMA), the City of Chicago, and the National Brownfield Association (NBA) are presenting a unique research venue -- Mobile Workshops -- at Brownfields 2001. The mobile workshops, which will take place at selected brownfield sites, will examine numerous projects in Chicago and the elements that assured their success. Major players, such as community members, property owners, government officials, developers, and business leaders will participate in the workshops and be on hand to discuss the approaches they’ve utilized to turn the properties into productive sites. 76th and Albany: Gateway Park, a 63-acre industrial park on the Southside of Chicago being developed by Gateway Park, LLC, is one of the first new inner city industrial parks to be built in the nation and is a result of an innovative partnership between the City of Chicago, a determined community group, and a thoughtful coalition of business men and women. This brownfield, once the site of illegal dumping, is being transformed into a community and citywide asset. Gateway Park will be the new home of StyleMaster. Founded in 1991 by Martha Williams, StyleMaster is one of the nation's few manufacturing companies principally owned by an African American woman. When recently expanding her company's production capacity, Williams insisted a Chicago site be found for her new manufacturing facility. The City of Chicago worked closely with the Greater Southwest Development Corporation (GSDC), a nonprofit community development corporation, to bring StyleMaster to Southwest Chicago. Lake Calumet Area: Known for its heavy industry and manufacturing facilities, the Lake Calumet area of Chicago also has a considerable amount of greenspace that offers valuable habitat in an urbanized region. The City of Chicago and the State of Illinois in cooperation with Federal agencies are working to assemble properties, protect them in an open space preserve, and improve their habitat. The City is also working with local industries and developers to protect and enhance natural resources, beginning with CenterPoint Properties and Ford Motor Company at the automaker's new supplier park. Midwest Center for Green Technology: In 1996, the City of Chicago closed the Sacramento Crushing operation and sued the site operator for violating the city's environmental laws. Today, the site is home to the Midwest Center for Green Technology, location of Chicago Solar, a photovoltaic equipment manufacturer, and Greencorps Chicago, a city program offering landscaping jobs and life skills training to Chicago residents. The project illustrates the variety of municipal and financing sources that can be used to remediate and redevelop a large, illegal dumpsite, methods to recycling existing structures, and opportunities and resources for sustainable redevelopment of brownfield sites. The refurbished building, when completed, will be a model of green building design with a wide array of environmentally friendly and energy efficient features; the solar panels produced by Chicago Solar will be used both at the site to supply some electricity needs and throughout the city to demonstrate solar technology. Overview of Chicago Brownfield Redevelopment Successes: Registration for the mobile workshops will be on-site at the McCormick Place in the conference registration area beginning Sunday, September 23 on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no charge to participate in the workshops. For more information, please contact Adam Ploetz at (202) 962-3601 For more information on Brownfields 2001, visit: New Online Resource: aboutREMEDIATION.com For brownfields industry professionals dealing with remediation issues, a new web site, AboutREMEDIATION.com, is an excellent online "one stop" reference source based in Canada on brownfields remediation, redevelopment, property cleanup information, technologies and solutions. At aboutREMEDIATION.com you can find evaluation tools, find new remediation technology or list your own, read case studies, government legislation, regulation, and policy information, and much more. Visit aboutREMEDIATION at the link below: And for database subscription information, visit: Dallas Urban Revitalization Sparks New Life, 114% Property Value Growth Dallas, TX - The July opening of American Airlines Center near downtown Dallas marks a new chapter in the resurgence of an urban neighborhood hampered by decades of environmental Concern. The new regional sports/entertainment venue and its surrounding multi-use development have already sparked new interest in the brownfield site and doubled surrounding land values - even before the facility hosts its first event on July 28, a concert by the Eagles. "American Airlines Center opens in late July, but we have already seen significant interest and investment in the immediate neighborhood," said Bill Flaherty, Senior Vice President of Victory. "This is amazing, particularly when you realize that this property and its empty buildings sat dormant for so many decades while development thrived in other parts of the city." American Airlines Center is the centerpiece of Victory, a master-planned project that ultimately will feature 8 million square feet of retail, office, hotel, residential and commercial development near downtown Dallas. Industrial activity dating back to the late 1800s required extensive environmental remediation of the site before new development could begin. The reclaimed site has served as a backdrop for news conferences by various government officials highlighting the need for increased brownfield development throughout America, and helped the City of Dallas win the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "Brownfield Showcase Community" award in 1998. A review shows that assessed values for properties surrounding the new development increased 114 percent from 1998 to 2000. Escalating valuation of the 72-acre Victory property during construction has already increased taxable revenue to local governments by 169 percent, even before the first event takes place in late July at the new American Airlines Center. "The development of American Airlines Center is a true success story in urban brownfield redevelopment," Flaherty said. "It shows that true public-private partnership and cooperation can achieve remarkable success in a comparatively short amount of time." Remediation of the 72-acre Victory site was completed under a Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP) through the cooperation of local, state and federal authorities with private developers. This meant that much of the remediation was completed within 24 months, parallel to the construction of American Airlines Center. Industrial activity in the area around the new American Airlines Center dates back to the late 1800s and included an old city dump, a meat-packing plant, a rail yard maintenance facility and an electric power station. Concern over historic environmental problems caused the area to be overlooked during decades of Dallas real estate development, including the recent resurgence of residential and retail development in the immediate vicinity. Remediation at the site involved the management of 16.2 million cubic feet of material and the treatment of 15 million gallons of water. |