Conversion of a Superfund
Site
to Residential Usage
Brownfield's Challenge
The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2000
Brownfields
are "real property, the expansion, redevelopment or
reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or
potential presence of a hazardous waste, substance,
pollutant or contaminant."
EPA estimates that there are more than 500,000 of
these properties nationwide.
Redeveloping Brownfields means transforming
environmentally-challenged properties into
productive properties. Redevelopment creates jobs,
allows for the expansion of business, and enhances
tax bases. The challenge is, prospective purchasers
are often reluctant to acquire Brownfields because
they might inherit a significant liability.
Before P&L acquired the Downingtown site, it was a dilapidated and abandoned
industrial site infested with drug dealers and condemned buildings. The site was
encumbered by both a multi-Million Dollar EPA Superfund lien and over $1 Million
in unpaid back taxes. The environmental contamination included over a $1 Million
in PCB lingering contamination, lead and mercury in the ground and water, and
significant asbestos. P&L arranged for (i) the removal of all of the
contaminated materials, including trucking tons of PCB-contaminated materials to
Michigan; (ii) a $1 Million grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to
assist with the demolition costs; (iii) a proper demolition of the site; (iv) a
rezoning and subdivision of the land in order to accommodate a residential
development; and (v) the obtainment of a liability release from both the EPA and
the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). This industrial blight
is now a beautiful new townhouse development with a pristine meandering creek,
and the air is permeated with the sound of playing children. Some state and
federal officials used this project as a paradigm for Brownfields redevelopment.
article published by the EPA. View>>>
