[CPEO-BIF] "How Much Cleaning Up Brownfields Is Really Worth"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

How Much Cleaning Up Brownfields Is Really Worth
A new study shows the enormous effect that the EPA's brownfield  
remediation program has on real estate values in cities.

by Kriston Capps
CityLab
July 29, 2014

There are more than 450,000 brownfield sites in the U.S., properties  
once used for industrial purposes that are now contaminated by  
hazardous substances at low levels. In 1995, the U.S. Environmental  
Protection Agency launched the Brownfields Program to provide support  
for brownfield remediation, an effort that was expanded in 2002, when  
Congress passed the so-called Brownfields Law. From that law's  
enactment through fiscal year 2013, the EPA has awarded public and  
private-sector organizations nearly 1,000 grants for cleaning up  
these industrial eyesores, for a total of almost $190 million.

Studies have proven the environmental gains that come with infill  
development on brownfield sites. And there's all kinds of examples  
that show all the uses to which brownfield sites can be put: transit  
centers, parks, even new factories. Until now, though, there's never  
been a measure for the actual value of brownfield remediation  
nationwide. Is the government getting its money's worth?
 ...

For the entire article, see
http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2014/07/how-much-cleaning-up- 
brownfields-is-really-worth/375234/

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
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

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