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| Brownfields Weekly |
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October 4, 2001 THIS WEEK:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To publish articles and press releases in Brownfields Weekly, write
to the editors: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brownfields Masterwork Brings Bayfront
Prosperity Selected as the Grand Prize Winner at Brownfields 2001 Phoenix Awards, the remediation and redevelopment of the Erie Front Street Complex in Erie, PA, spearheaded the revitalization of Erie's waterfront. For more than 80 years, GPU Energy's Front Street Station, a 118-megawatt coal-fired power plant, was located along Lake Erie on Presque Isle Bay. The 11-acre site contained a power plant, an electric substation, a 120-foot smokestack, fuel tanks, ash dewatering ponds, and various other facilities. In 1989, the Front Street Station had reached the end of its economic life and GPU began planning the facility's closure. The projected cost of decommissioning the plant and restoring the site to a greenfield condition totaled millions of dollars. But over a two-year period, GPU Energy and North American Realty Advisory Services, L.P. assembled a 33.5-acre site by purchasing adjoining property and coordinating a unique land exchange agreement with the Port Authority. Their dedication to this project brought tremendous results. Redevelopment of this property demonstrates implementation of innovative treatment technologies, re-use of materials and structures, and prudent land planning and controls. The Bayfront District was transformed from a contaminated brownfield site to a scenic waterfront, complete with parks and greenspace -- as well as a Museum that includes exhibits showing the environmental transformation of the entire Great Lakes ecosystem. Now the Bayfront District is a first-class tourist and community cultural center complex, including the 92,000-square foot Erie Maritime Museum, Erie County Public Library, the 8.5-acre Liberty Park with walking and biking trails, playgrounds and a 150-seat dockside amphitheater with a breathtaking view of Presque Isle. It is homeport to the U.S. Brig Niagara, an authentic replica of the U.S. warship aboard which Commodore Perry won the Battle of Lake Erie in the war of 1812. The ship serves as a living museum – demonstrating the skills of 19th Century seamanship in maritime reenactments. The complex was transformed into a multi-million dollar mixed-use development that includes a hotel, convention center and marina as well as office, retail and residential facilities. GPU Energy together with city and county government, state agencies, business leaders and the community have created a crown jewel for this region -- a cultural center for Erie, a destination point for millions of tourists, a new residential community and improved waterfront access. Hundreds of professional and non-professional jobs have been created with highway and infrastructure improvements totaling over $95,000,000. The Erie waterfront truly has been revitalized with its museum, restaurants, shopping, sailing, concerts and community cultural programs. $6.3 Million Protects Green Swath
in Maryland ANNAPOLIS, Maryland - Maryland Governor Parris Glendening has pledged $6.3 million to purchase and preserve 1,271 acres of mature forest, 90 acres of wetlands, and 1.8 miles of Potomac River shoreline. The funding from the state's GreenPrint program will protect a major portion of Douglas Point in Charles County. "We are acting with a sense of urgency all across the State to save our most ecologically valuable lands before they are lost forever to development," Glendening said. "Using our aggressive land preservation programs, we have permanently preserved 235,792 acres over the last seven years for future generations. Douglas Point is a vital link in the state's delicate ecosystem and it boasts a dense forest, an abundance of wetlands and a pristine stretch of shoreline that is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including bald eagles and osprey." The Douglas Point property, which will be acquired from the utility company PEPCO, is the first step in a conservation strategy partnering the state with Charles County, The Conservation Fund and the federal Bureau of Land Management. The partners are committed to preserving this area, which contains some of the most pristine and culturally significant areas remaining in Maryland. The larger Douglas Point peninsula, which is threatened with development, contains 10 miles of shoreline along the Potomac River, Mattawoman Creek, and the historic Port Tobacco River as well as 5,500 acres of forests and wetlands. The GreenPrint Program, established this year, allows the state to take steps to preserve an extensive intertwined network of lands vital to the long term protection of the state's natural resources. The program uses the most up to date computer mapping techniques to identify the most ecologically important unprotected natural lands in the state. Program funds are used to connect these lands with already protected land through acquisitions or easements. HRH the Prince of Wales's Business
& the Environment Program: Senior Executives Seminar Intended for those who operate at highly strategic levels within their organizations, HRH the Prince of Wales's Business & the Environment Program helps participants reconcile the relative sustainability of their products, technologies and strategies with the need to remain profitable in business. Healthy debate and analysis concerning the role of the business community in society is informed by the wider context of national and international strategies and emerging scenarios for global sustainability. For more information and to register, please visit: Deadline for Proposals for USTfields
Pilots is October 22 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Proposals for this year's USTfields assistance must be submitted no later than Monday, October 22, 2001. Earlier this year, the EPA announced it will provide $4 million to up to 40 Pilot projects for cleaning up contamination from underground storage tanks around the nation. While the EPA's Brownfields program has seen much success, it has been unable to address abandonded petroleum tanks, often found in and around vacated gas stations. The EPA is inviting states, territories, federally-recognized Indian Tribes and intertribal consortiums to compete for the USTfields Pilots. Each selected Pilot will receive up to $100,000 in Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund monies. The chosen Pilots will be announced by the end of the year. For the USTfields Program Proposal Guidelines and information, please
visit: New Lab to Support Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico (ENS) - A new research program for the Department of Energy's (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) will study the chemistry of materials that can affect underground radioactive waste storage sites. The program is a cooperative effort of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Carlsbad Operations and the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center of New Mexico State University to develop new research and laboratory capabilities to support WIPP's scientific needs. WIPP, located 26 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico, became the nation's first operating underground repository for permanent disposal of weapons related radioactive waste on March 26, 1999. The new research program focuses on actinide chemistry, or the chemical behavior and properties of those elements that are heavier than radium. Actinide chemistry is important to understanding the long term performance of the WIPP repository. These radioactive exotic elements attempt to become more stable by throwing off particles and energy from their overcrowded nuclei. This actinide chemistry activity can be applied to weapons and energy production but it increases the challenge of handling these elements. The new laboratory collaboration seeks to understand the behavior of these elements to a degree never before achieved. The research program includes repository science investigations to support WIPP, reduce costs and ensure its safe and economical use far into the future. The team will use the mobile Contaminant Analysis Automation laboratory, which was developed by the DOE as a tool that can be sent to contaminated sites for quick analyses of hazardous materials. The automated lab lowers costs and reduces the time required to analyze environmental samples. The lab will be used to investigate the behavior of plutonium under many possible underground conditions, as well as developing new methods to package and treat radioactive materials to make them easier to handle. |