[CPEO-BIF] CPEO plans New England Regional community brownfields workshop

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Workshop: How Brownfields Revitalization Can Meet Community Needs

Save the Date: Saturday, September 30, 2006 from 9-3:30 (lunch provided)

Place: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA

For More Information: Contact cpeo@cpeo.org.

The Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO) is pleased to 
invite you to a free educational workshop for community organizations 
and residents of brownfield communities in the New England region.

Workshop focus

Most brownfield sites are small and scattered across economically 
depressed neighborhoods. Few if any of these sites can yield the returns 
necessary to attract private investment. But for local residents and 
community groups, reclaiming these sites and turning them into resources 
for communities is imperative. This practical, interactive workshop will 
discuss and explore examples of community-led brownfields cleanup and 
redevelopment.

Program

The morning session will focus on three issues that are of concern to 
communities in central Massachusetts and across the region:

1.  Building affordable housing on brownfields.
2.  Converting brownfields to open space, parks, and urban gardens.
3.  Siting schools on brownfields.

Each session will begin with a short panel presentation followed by a 
question and answer session. Our goal is to enable conversation and 
meaningful exchange so that the presenters and other participants can 
critically examine a range of topics, including:

* public-private partnerships
* sources of funding
* the role community land trusts can play in brownfields to blunt 
gentrification
* dealing with liability for on-site and off-site contamination
* implementing an effective community involvement plan in the context of 
real estate deal-making
* techniques for assessing and cleaning up contamination, including 
vapor intrusion.

In the afternoon session we will change gears and as a group identify 
and flesh out ideas and policy innovations that could benefit 
community-led efforts in brownfields. Participants will draft a set of 
policy recommendations that will be presented at the National 
Brownfields Environmental Justice/Community Caucus at EPA's 2006 
national brownfields conference. This year the conference will take 
place in Boston from November 13-15. The Caucus will meet just before 
the Conference, on Sunday, November 12th from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm at the 
Boston Convention Center.

Please circulate this announcement to people in your community who may 
wish to attend. And let us know at cpeo@cpeo.org if you plan to attend.

-------

The Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO) 
[http:///www.cpeo.org] promotes and facilitates public participation in 
the oversight of environmental activities at federal facilities, private 
"Superfund" sites, and Brownfields. CPEO educates public stakeholders on 
both the process and technologies for cleanup and environmental 
protection. CPEO conducts sites visits, convenes workshops and forums, 
publishes articles, and maintains the web-based "technology tree." 
CPEO's Brownfields Assistance Project is supported by U.S. EPA.


--


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
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

_______________________________________________
Brownfields mailing list
Brownfields@list.cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org/mailman/listinfo/brownfields