Earth Pledge Announces Formation of The Guardian Trust.

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The following can be viewed online at:
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/2/emw102967.htm
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All Press Releases for February 6, 2004
Earth Pledge Announces Formation of The Guardian Trust. MGP
Environmental Partners to administer Trust.

Earth Pledge Announces Formation of The Guardian Trust, a Program for
Long-Term Stewardship of Environmentally Contaminated Properties ? Goals
are to Protect Human Health and the Environment and to Encourage
Environmentally Safe Economic Development and Community Revitalization.
MGP Environmental Partners, a leading brownfields consulting and
management firm, to provide administration of institutional controls for
The Guardian Trust

(PRWEB) February 6, 2004--The Guardian Trust, a public/private
partnership to provide accountable, on-going land use and engineering
controls and to enable trustworthy redevelopment of environmentally
contaminated properties, was announced today by Theodore W. Kheel,
President of Earth Pledge, a non-profit organization nationally
recognized as a leader in sustainable development programs.

In making the announcement, Mr. Kheel said: ?There are hundreds of
thousands, if not millions, of contaminated properties throughout the
United States. The Guardian Trust will provide a viable new solution to
meet the need for effective oversight of contaminated sites, and,
hopefully prevent potential environmental disaster.? The benefit of The
Guardian Trust in addressing this problem is fourfold:

1. To protect human health and the environment by preventing improper
usage of environmentally contaminated sites and assuring the integrity
of remedial solutions.
2. To provide financial assurances for the long-term stewardship of
properties.
3. To facilitate the ability of owners to transfer sites to buyers.
4. To allow companies to safely end their active day-to-day management
of contaminated properties and focus on their core business strategies.

To manage a program of this magnitude, Earth Pledge has selected
Guardian Trust Management Services, an affiliate of MGP Environmental
Partners LLC. The Guardian Trust is an outgrowth of a pilot study funded
by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Pennsylvania Department
of Environmental Protection. Also participating in the study were the
United States Navy, the Maryland Department of the Environment and the
California Environmental Protection Agency. The pilot study looked at
innovative approaches to solving problems associated with land use and
engineering controls at sites where contamination remains behind after
the initial clean up. The vast majority of all environmental clean ups
use risk based methods.

MGP Environmental Partners, whose mission is to use private sector
approaches to solve complex issues involved in the transaction and
redevelopment of contaminated sites, developed the concept of The
Guardian Trust under the leadership of Bruce-Sean Reshen, MGP?s Chief
Executive Officer. Joining Mr. Kheel and Earth Pledge Executive Director
Leslie Hoffman at the announcement, Mr. Reshen said, ?Our experience
confirms that brownfields issues can only be solved through the
multi-faceted integration of engineering, land use, risk management, and
real estate development. We believe that our experience in managing
complex redevelopment properties, along with the unparalleled reputation
of Earth Pledge as a leader in bringing innovative sustainable
approaches to this nation, will make The Guardian Trust program a
successful initiative for all interested parties.? Ms. Hoffman added,
?Clearly The Guardian Trust is a perfect complement to Earth Pledge?s
current initiatives ? Green Roofs, Farm to Table and Waste=Fuel ? and we
look forward to a long, successful program under the management of MGP.?

About Earth Pledge
Earth Pledge is a New York City-based nonprofit organization that
originated in 1991 as a United Nations committee chaired by prominent
New York attorney Theodore W. Kheel to promote interest in the 1992 Rio
Earth Summit. Earth Pledge identifies and promotes innovative techniques
and technologies that restore the balance between human and natural
systems. Through demonstration, education and research, Earth Pledge
delivers viable models to government, industry and communities.

About MGP Environmental Partners LLC
Founded in 1997, MGP Environmental Partners LLC, based in Stamford, CT,
is a nationally known real estate consulting and management firm, with
clients in both the public and private sectors. Its Principals and Staff
? proven experts in real estate, engineering, risk management, finance,
information technology and especially brownfields remediation ? bring to
bear on the management of The Guardian Trust an extraordinary track
record of success. Under the leadership of its CEO, Bruce-Sean Reshen ?
a noted expert on Institutional Controls who has been actively speaking
and writing on the subject for more than 10 years ? MGP has led the
effort to establish The Guardian Trust.

About Institutional Controls
In January 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established
new guidelines for the redevelopment of environmentally contaminated
sites that sought to prevent situations such as Love Canal. These
guidelines utilize Engineering Controls (ECs) (e.g.: pump and treat
methods for groundwater and landfill caps for soil) and Land Use
Controls (LUCs) (e.g.: easements and deed restrictions). These controls
are also known in combination as Institutional Controls (ICs).

However, in order for ICs to be successful, there needs to be oversight
to inspect, monitor and report on properties for as long as 30 years, or
more. Traditionally, this oversight has been left to the owner of the
site in varying combinations with the appropriate government agency.
However, when ownership of the site changes hands (which frequently
happens) there is no certain mechanism in place to make sure that the
new owner (or any subsequent owner) will even know ? and/or abide ? by
the institutional controls placed on the site. As a result, enforcement
of the ICs is uncertain, regional inconsistencies exist, and there is no
uniform approach for notice, monitoring and reporting of ICs.

Contact Info:
MGP Environmental Partners
Bruce-Sean Reshen
(203) 327-2888, Ext. 18

Earth Pledge
Leslie Hoffman
(212) 725-6611, Ext. 227

DeBow Communications
Thomas J. DeBow, Jr.
(212) 977-8815