Brownfield land

Example of brownfield land at a disused gasworks site after excavation, with soil contamination from removed underground storage tanks.

Brownfield is a term used in urban planning to describe land previously used for industrial purposes or some commercial uses. Such land may have been contaminated with hazardous waste or pollution or is feared to be so.^[1][2] Once cleaned up, such an area can become a community park or host to a business development such as a retail park. Land that is more severely contaminated and has high concentrations of hazardous waste or pollution, such as a Superfund site, does not fall under the brownfield classification. Mothballed brownfields are properties that the owners are not willing to transfer or put to productive reuse.^[3]

The term applies more generally to previously used land or to sections of industrial or commercial facilities that are to be upgraded,^[4] although this usage is becoming more commonplace.

Sites and contaminants

Generally, brownfield sites exist in a city's or town's industrial section, on locations with abandoned factories or commercial buildings, or other previously polluting operations. Small brownfields also may be found in many older residential neighborhoods. For example, many dry cleaning establishments or gas stations produced high levels of subsurface contaminants during prior operations, and the land they occupy might sit idle for decades as a brownfield.

Typical contaminants found on contaminated brownfield land include hydrocarbon spillages, solvents, pesticides, heavy metals such as lead (e.g., paints), tributyltins, and asbestos. Old maps may assist in identifying areas to be tested.

Redevelopment

Redevelopment strategies

A number of innovative financial and remediation techniques have been used in the U.S. in recent years to expedite the cleanup of brownfield sites. For example, some environmental firms have teamed up with insurance companies to underwrite the cleanup of distressed brownfield properties and provide a guaranteed cleanup cost for a specific brownfield property, to limit land developers' exposure to environmental remediation costs and pollution lawsuits. The environmental firm first performs an extensive investigation of the brownfield site to ensure that the guaranteed cleanup cost is reasonable and they will not wind up with any surprises.

Innovative remedial techniques used at distressed brownfields in recent years include in situ thermal remediation, bioremediation and in situ oxidation. Often, these strategies are used in conjunction with each other or with other remedial strategies such as soil vapor extraction. In this process, vapor from the soil phase is extracted from soils and treated, which has the effect of removing contaminants from the soils and groundwater beneath a site. Binders can be added to contaminated soil to prevent chemical leaching.^[5] Some brownfields with heavy metal contamination have even been cleaned up through an innovative approach called phytoremediation, which uses deep-rooted plants to soak up metals in soils into the plant structure as the plant grows. After they reach maturity, the plants – which now contain the heavy metal contaminants in their tissues – are removed and disposed of as hazardous waste.

Research is under way to see if some brownfields can be used to grow crops, specifically for the production of biofuels.^[6] Michigan State University, in collaboration with DaimlerChrysler and NextEnergy, has small plots of soybean, corn, canola, and switchgrass growing in a former industrial dump site in Oakland County, Michigan. The intent is to see if the plants can serve two purposes simultaneously: assist with phytoremediation, and contribute to the economical production of biodiesel and/or ethanol fuel.

The regeneration of brownfields in the United Kingdom and in other European countries has gained prominence due to greenfield land restrictions as well as their potential to promote the urban renaissance.^[4] Development of brownfield sites also presents an opportunity to reduce the environmental impact on communities, and considerable assessments need to take place in order to evaluate the size of this opportunity.^[7]

Post-redevelopment uses

Brownfield relic serves as monument in a new park in Atlantic Station area of Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Brownfield residential development in New Jersey

Pedestrians walking along hillside path in Seonyudo Park

Commercial and Residential

The Atlantic Station project in Atlanta, is the largest brownfield redevelopment in the United States.^[8] Dayton, like many other cities in the region, is developing Tech Town in order to attract technology-based firms to Dayton and revitalize the downtown area.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has successfully converted numerous former steel mill sites into high-end residential, shopping, and offices. Examples of brownfield redevelopment in Pittsburgh include:

• In Homestead, Pennsylvania, the site once occupied by Carnegie Steel has been converted into a successful commercial center, The Waterfront.
• In Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood, a former slag dump for steel mills was turned into a $243 million residential development called Summerset at Frick Park.
• In Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood, a former LTV Steel mill site was transformed into Southside Works, a mixed-use development that includes high-end entertainment, retail, offices, and housing.
• In the Hazelwood (Pittsburgh) neighborhood, a former Jones and Laughlin steel mill site was transformed into a $104 million office park called Pittsburgh Technology Center.
• In Herr's Island, a 17-hectare (42-acre) island on the western bank of the Allegheny River, a former rail stop for livestock and meatpacking was transformed into Washington's Landing, a waterfront center for commerce, manufacturing, recreation and upscale housing

Parks

• In Seattle, rusted remains of a gasworks were left in place to add character to Gas Works Park.
• In Providence, Rhode Island, The Steel Yard is a "landscape for learning" built over a once lead contaminated brownfield.
• On the Wellesley College campus, parking lots were removed from Alumnae Valley to restore it into a wetlands.
• On the island of Seonyudo in Seoul, Seonyudo Park is created from a retired water purification plant.
• In Ningbo, China, The Ningbo Eco-Corridor has turned a brownfield into a 2 mile long urban filter and natural habitat.
• In Shanghai, China, Houtan Park was once an industrial brownfield, but now treats polluted water.

Regulation

United States

In the United States, Brownfield regulation and development is largely governed by state environmental agencies in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).The EPA, together with local and national government, can provide technical help and some funding for assessment and cleanup of designated sites. They can also provide tax incentives for cleanup that is not paid for outright; specifically, cleanup costs are fully tax-deductible in the year they are incurred.^[9] Many of the most important provisions on liability relief are contained in state codes that can differ significantly from state to state.^[10]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, regulation of contaminated land comes from Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990; responsibility falls on local authorities to create a "contaminated land register", sites with dubious past and present uses may be subject to a desktop study,^[11] which is sometimes implemented as a condition in planning applications.

Barriers to redevelopment

Examples of brownfields that were redeveloped into productive properties

Many contaminated brownfield sites sit unused for decades because the cost of cleaning them to safe standards is more than the land would be worth after redevelopment. However, redevelopment has become more common in the first decade of the 21st century, as developable land grows less available in highly populated areas, and brownfields contribute to environmental stigma which can delay redevelopment.^[12] Also, the methods of studying contaminated land have become more sophisticated and established.

Many federal and state programs have been developed to help developers interested in cleaning up brownfield sites and restoring them to practical uses. Some states and localities have spent considerable money assessing the contamination on local brownfield sites, to quantify the cleanup costs in an effort to move the redevelopment process forward.

In the process of cleaning contaminated brownfield sites, surprises are sometimes encountered, such as previously unknown underground storage tanks, buried drums or buried railroad tank cars containing wastes. When unexpected circumstances arise, the cost for clean-up increases, and as a result, the cleanup work may be delayed or stopped entirely. To avoid unexpected contamination and increased costs, many developers insist that a site be thoroughly investigated (via a Phase II Site Investigation or Remedial Investigation) prior to commencing remedial cleanup activities.

Valuation

Acquisition, adaptive re-use, and disposal of a brownfield site requires advanced and specialized appraisal analysis techniques. For example, the highest and best use of the brownfield site may be affected by the contamination, both pre- and post-remediation. Additionally, the value should take into account residual stigma and potential for third-party liability. Normal appraisal techniques frequently fail, and appraisers must rely on more advanced techniques, such as contingent valuation, case studies, or statistical analyses.^[13] Nonetheless, a University of Delaware study has suggested a 17.5:1 return on dollars invested on brownfield redevelopment.^[14]

International variations

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the term 'brownfield' has a colloquial meaning roughly equivalent to the American usage described above, i.e. vacant or derelict land or property, usually industrial in nature. In terms of British Town and Country Planning, however, the meaning of 'brownfield' is more complex, and is often conflated with the technical term 'previously developed land' (PDL). PDL was originally defined in planning policy for housing development in England and Wales, and was carefully distinguished in such policy from 'brownfield', which was undefined but considered to be different (see for example Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing, 2000). The following definition is from the 2012 National Planning Policy Guidance, which only applies to England, and which uses the terms 'brownfield' and 'previously developed land' interchangeably:
"Land which is or was occupied by a permanent structure, including the curtilage of the developed land (although it should not be assumed that the whole of the curtilage should be developed) and any associated fixed surface infrastructure. This excludes:

• land that is or has been occupied by agricultural or forestry buildings;
• land that has been developed for minerals extraction (mining) or waste disposal by landfill purposes where provision for restoration has been made through development control procedures;
• land in built-up areas such as private residential gardens, parks, recreation grounds and allotments; and
• land that was previously-developed but where the remains of the permanent structure or fixed surface structure have blended into the landscape in the process of time."

United States

The term brownfields first came into use on June 28, 1992, at a U.S. congressional field hearing hosted by the Northeast Midwest Congressional Coalition. Also in 1992, the first detailed policy analysis of the issue was convened by the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission. The United States Environmental Protection Agency selected Cuyahoga County as its first brownfield pilot project in September 1993.^[15]

See also

• Brockton Brightfield (brownfield turned into a solar power plant)
• Brownfield regulation and development
• Brownfield status
• Greenfield land
• Greyfield land
• HUD USER
• Industrial nature
• Redevelopment of Mumbai mills (unused mills being re-developed)
• Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse
• Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act
• Waste (law)

References

External links