From "Maybe a Brownfield," to "Emergency Removal Actions."

[Emery Graham <egraham@dca.net>]

How do communities know, beforehand, whether the site targeted for a
Phase I Assessment is going to be an emergency removal site, a Superfund
site, or just a plain old "uncontrolled hazardous waste site?"  If the
results of the Phase II Assessment indicates the presence of hazardous
waste, what's the obligation of the community? For communities that
don't have Health Departments, or Emergency Management Coordinators,
what's the next move?

When Brownfield Coordinators, who work for citys that own vacant land,
do their survey of potential developable sites and target city owned
land for assessement, what precautions should they take re entering the
site, personal protection equipment, etc.

What precautions should municipalities take when they become Brownfield
Assessment Demonstration Grant awardees? Should their Risk Manager get
involved; the Solicitor; the Health Department; the Licenses and
Inspections Department?

Has anyone run these questions by their Grant Managers; Regional
Counsel; EPA OSHA Specialist; Central Office? Are these issues salient?
Has anyone encountered any situations where these considerations come
into play?

Is there funding available to help develop the community's
organizational capacity needed to deal with the successful discovery of
"hazardous wastesites."

How many communities with high density neighborhoods also have
Brownfields or uncontrolled hazardous wastesites in, or nearby, the
neighborhoods?

Emery