[CPEO-BIF] "UConn Brownfields Initiative has Great Potential"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Editorial: UConn Brownfields Initiative has Great Potential

By The Editorial Board  
University of Connecticut Daily Campus
January 16, 2018

Brownfield sites are locations where remnants of toxic chemicals and industrial waste prevent the area from being used. There are an estimated 450,000 brownfields in the United States, with hundreds scattered across Connecticut. Federal and state assistance is available to help clean up brownfields, but the expertise and resources able to secure these funds is lacking for the most part, especially in smaller towns. This can impede economic development, as reinvesting in these properties can facilitate job growth and strengthen tax bases.

In order to provide a workforce and lend assistance for these efforts, the Connecticut Brownfields Initiative is developing a program for education on redeveloping brownfields and to provide networking opportunities to facilitate the process. At UConn, this translates into a class that will be offered to students (starting in the fall of 2018) focusing on grant proposal writing, regulatory and liability issues, site investigation and remediation and a host of other brownfield-related topics. After taking this class, students will have the opportunity to work with cities and towns on brownfield projects, giving these municipalities a much needed resource to engage in these efforts and the students’ valuable experience.

This is a beneficial initiative in several respects. It is first and foremost an opportunity for students at UConn who seek to pursue careers related to brownfield redevelopment and other environmental work. A two-part course where students initially learn skills and then the next semester are able to apply them is an idealized education process that is not an option for many students unless they are able to perform undergraduate research or secure internships.

…

For the entire article, see
http://dailycampus.com/stories/2018/1/16/editorial-uconn-brownfields-initiative-has-great-potential

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Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650/961-8918 
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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