RE: [CPEO-BIF] Philadelphia (PA) Site Visits

[paterson@uts.cc.utexas.edu]

I would also have the neighborhood contact the Penn Faculty in the School of
Design. They have a planning and landscape architecture program there and I
could easily see a studio or elective seminar that tackles a portion of these
issues which might mobilize other groups to help (e.g., historical society and
social justice groups in the Philly area).

Kind regards

Bob
-- 
Dr. Robert G. Paterson
Associate Professor
Co-Director, Center for Sustainable Development
1 University Station B7500
School of Architecture
The University of Texas
Austin TX 78712-1160
512-471-0734
Fax 512-471-0716


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Quoting Emery Graham <piphoto@comcast.net>:

> Developers often shoot themselves in the foot when they willingly violate
> Fed. State. And local environmental laws as they try to develop an area. The
> residents need to file a suit for damages to person and property caused by
> the developer's activity. Neighbors need to video tape the illegal
> development activity for purposes of evidence. Finally they need to file
> claims with the developer's insurance company for damages.
>
> Emery
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: brownfields-bounces@list.cpeo.org
> [mailto:brownfields-bounces@list.cpeo.org] On Behalf Of Lenny Siegel
> Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 11:30 PM
> To: Brownfields Internet Forum
> Subject: [CPEO-BIF] Philadelphia (PA) Site Visits
>
> Philadelphia Site Visits
> March, 2006
> Lenny Siegel
> (For a formatted version with pictures, go to
> http://www.cpeo.org/brownfields/brown.html.)
>
> I recently made two visits to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, learning about
> neighborhoods with both viable residential communities and checkerboards
> of abandoned properties. Redevelopment is already underway, but it is
> encumbered by a history of mistrust. Still, there are opportunities for
> cooperation between residents and development interests, but it will
> take a conscious effort by government agencies, as well as community
> members, to build the partnership necessary for success.
>
> On January 24 Peter Strauss - who works with me on a number of projects
> - and I met with active residents of Philadelphia's Northern Liberties
> Neighborhood. The neighborhood is one of Philadelphia's oldest areas,
> north of downtown between the Delaware River and 6th Street.
> Historically it has been home to tanneries, breweries, and other
> industries. About 4,000 people live there, but with many Brownfields
> being converted to moderate-income rental housing and high-rise towers
> along the River, the population is growing. The area is historically low
> income, but some of the new developments are gentrifying the
> neighborhood. According to residents, about one fourth of the property
> is now owned by one influential developer.
>
> Poisoning the climate, the area suffers - according to residents - from
> a recent legacy of unpermitted demolitions and the unsafe handling and
> storage of debris (containing, among other things, lead and asbestos)
> and contaminated soil. They say that a local company has carried out a
> series of demolitions in the area, with little regard for environmental
> protection. It has moved contaminated dirt from property to property.
>
> One of the community's biggest concerns is a former tannery site they
> call the "pregnant parking lot," because asphalt was reportedly laid
> directly over a mound of dirt with little grading. EPA conducted an
> emergency response on the property in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
> Neighbors are concerned about vapor intrusion, but it's not clear that
> the concentrations of TCE are great enough to merit a significant
> response or serious health concerns. There seems to be residual
> polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination, but the regulatory status
> of this site is not clear.
>
> The nearby Schmidt Brewery site is currently the subject of
> state-sponsored public meetings. The community was unable to preserve
> this historic structure, and part of the property has been redeveloped
> with housing - reportedly without cleanup. Another  portion contains PCB
> hot spots, possible the result of the dumping of contaminated dirt from
> other neighborhood sites. Neighbors want removal, not capping. Large
> mounds of dirt are a source of dust, possibly toxic, in adjacent
> residential buildings.
>
> The contamination is compounded by what appears to be periodic flooding,
> which may spread contamination in the neighborhood and transport PCBs to
> the Delaware River.
>
> Neighborhood activists feel that they are getting little support from
> either the city of Philadelphia or Pennsylvania's Department of
> Environmental Protection. They feel that their concerns are dismissed
> because officials perceive them as opponents of much needed
> redevelopment. They don't oppose development, but they want proper
> demolition, the control of releases from demolition and the movement of
> dirt, and full remediation of sites undergoing redevelopment.
>
> I made a number of suggestions designed to improve their chances of
> achieving their objectives, including seeking more press coverage, using
> constructive language when dealing with regulators, and proposing a
> community advisory group for Philadelphia's Brownfields program. I also
> suggested that they focus on their most important issues. We discussed
> the possibility of CPEO leading a "Brownfields 101" workshop.
>
> On Thursday night, January 26, I attended a North Liberties Neighborhood
> Association meeting in a local church. 40 to 50 people attended, and the
> group dealt with a series of issues including a mural, a park, trash,
> the Edgar Allan Poe House, and a Doughboy memorial.
>
> One of the main agenda items was a discussion of the Schmidt Brewery
> site with four officials of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
> Protection. There seems to be a great deal of tension over PADEP's
> jurisdiction. The agency is perceived as unresponsive. For example, air
> issues, such as dust from construction, demolition, and soil
> transportation, are normally regulated by the city of Philadelphia.
> Furthermore, Pennsylvania's Act 2 Land Recycling program is a voluntary
> program, with state jurisdiction and public notice only after a
> developer gives notice of an intent to remediate. If citizens want to
> trigger a hazardous waste investigation, it has to be through a
> different program. Furthermore, notice is through a newspaper of public
> record and a difficult-to-use web site. There is no community mailing list.
>
> The project officer explained that the developer hadn't even submitted a
> final use scenario, so any comments he was developing were not final. If
> the property is developed as single-family residences or row houses,
> capping will probably not be accepted as a remedy. Furthermore, he said,
> if groundwater is impacted then more cleanup would be required. After
> the meeting he agreed the surface water run-off was also a pathway of
> concern.
>
> Also, after the meeting I clarified that once soil is deemed hazardous
> waste PADEP has the authority to require controls to reduce fugitive dust.
>
> The North Liberty residents seem to be making a difference. PADEP isn't
> used to intense public involvement, so when it happens, it has an
> impact. Though community members believed that opportunities for public
> involvement had ended, PADEP said that they would continue. I predict
> that the community will get much of what it wants at this site and
> better, earlier cooperation from officials at other sites.
>
> The people at the meeting who cared about environmental issues are doing
> a good job, but they could be more effective and feel more empowered if
> they better understood the cleanup and redevelopment processes. They
> would clearly benefit from a Brownfields 101 Workshop.
>
> I returned to Philadelphia on March 23 to lay the groundwork for a
> city-wide Brownfields workshop. I met with EPA officials with
> responsibility for Brownfields in Philadelphia, I took a walking tour of
> the South Kensington and Northern Liberties Neighborhood, and I met with
> a group of community activists as well as a community relations
> specialist from PADEP. I took all of the photos that accompany this
> report on that day. I plan to meet with city officials on a future visit.
>
> I learned that EPA is taking community complaints seriously. It is
> reviewing documents associated with the "pregnant parking lot,"
> considering, among other things, the possibility of vapor intrusion into
> adjacent new residences. I also was told that Philadelphia is now more
> carefully monitoring the movement and storage of excavated soil and
> debris. Similarly, DEP is listening to community requests for more
> involvement.
>
> On this trip, I received positive, but general feedback on CPEO's
> proposed workshop, as well as the concept of a community advisory group.
>
> But the tour of the two neighborhoods was the most valuable part of this
> visit. I learned that Northern Liberties is being repopulated by young
> families. The South Kensington neighborhood, just to the north, appears
> poorer, with sections inhabited by African-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and
> Middle Eastern Moslems.
>
> I saw the Reading Viaduct - as in "take a ride on the Reading Railroad"
> - which some community members would like to turn into a linear park and
> trail. Reportedly, the current plan is to demolish it. Though there are
> a number of fenced-off pocket gardens, the area seems to suffer from a
> shortage of public greenspace. Plans to build high-rise residential
> buildings along the Delaware River, just to the East, may accentuate the
> problem.
>
> I saw the Absco site, a former junkyard that has largely been cleared,
> but apparently not cleaned.
>
> And I saw the Gretz Brewery, like the Schmidt Brewery, a historic
> building with no official designation. Many in the community would like
> to see this structure preserved and restored.
>
> But more important than the individual properties was the appearance of
> the neighborhoods as a whole. Both areas are a mix of housing, operating
> small industries (paint shops, etc.), abandoned structures, and vacant
> lots strewn with garbage. Schools and homes sit next door to and across
> the street from blighted, possibly polluted properties. Though it would
> cost more to properly clean these properties to support unrestricted use
> (housing, schools, etc.), future industrial operations appear
> inappropriate, because they would generate emissions, discharges, and
> traffic unsuitable for neighborhood improvement.
>
> While Northern Liberties, closer to the city center, has more immediate
> redevelopment potential, both neighborhoods are candidates for
> revitalization. Community activists support redevelopment, but they feel
> left out of the process. Only allowed to express themselves at specific
> sites, after major decisions have been made, residents are viewed simply
> as nay-sayers and troublemakers.
>
> An area-wide (or even city-wide) advisory group would help the community
> understand what projects are in the works in time to influence them. It
> could figure out which properties are worth neighborhood attention. And
> developers could adjust their plans to win more community support. From
> what I could tell, most of the contamination in the area is near the
> surface, so developers could be more protective simply by using
> standard, inexpensive "dig-and-haul" removal techniques.
>
> Northern Liberties (and to a lesser degree, South Kensington) is clearly
> on the front lines of the Brownfields issue. It's an area that
> desperately needs cleanup and development, and its location in itself is
> an economic incentive for commercially viable projects. Community
> members have taken the first step toward constructive involvement, and
> with proper support they can create better neighborhoods in partnership
> with government agencies and private developers.
>
>
>
> --
> Lenny Siegel
> Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
> c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
> Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
> Fax: 650/961-8918
> http://www.cpeo.org
>
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