As a municipality or developer, you are committed to redeveloping unusable, contaminated properties in your community and transforming them into assets. Because of their history, though, these properties often require Phase II Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) before redevelopment can begin. A significant aspect of brownfield redevelopment invo...
Industrial activities such as manufacturing, mining, oil and fuel dumping, fertilizer application and improper waste disposal may contaminate the natural soil environment. The resulting heavy metals, organic and inorganic compounds, petroleum hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and pesticides present in the soil pose potential health ris...
Many communities suffer blight because of abandoned properties that do not generate value and pose a potential risk to public safety. Developers often consider abandoned properties — from small filling stations to industrial-scale factories — too complicated and costly for reuse. For municipalities, though, brownfield redevelopment projects offer o...
A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) represents the foundation of any responsible brownfield redevelopment project and provides legal protections for environmental liability, which is important for any landowner. The site assessment seeks to discover contaminants, hazardous substances or pollutants that may threaten site environmental...
An abandoned and underused brownfield is often an eyesore to the surrounding community. Additionally, brownfield sites present potential health and safety risks to community members. After redevelopment, though, the same contaminated site can enable sustainable land reuse and development, revitalize the local economy and transform the entire commun...
More than 450,000 brownfields across the U.S. are contaminated with lead, petroleum, asbestos, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other pollutants. Although redeveloping these brownfield sites holds immense potential for the local economy and the environment, municipalities often are unable to initiate such capital-intensive projects. A brownfie...
Fehr Graham Principal Joel Zirkle has worked on brownfield redevelopment for years to help communities throughout the Midwest littered with properties like the old Barber-Colman manufacturing complex in Rockford, Illinois. Many buildings that once employed hundreds, or even thousands of people, now sit abandoned and unsafe. Are you concerned about ...
Environmental due diligence, simply put, is how we summarize the environmental conditions of properties. The most common first step of environmental due diligence is a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA), which was talked about in a blog post about brownfield redevelopment. Here, I’ll address some frequently asked questions about Phase I ES...
Brownfield redevelopment transforms blighted, deteriorated and contaminated properties into community assets. The hope is to remove eyesores and entice development – everything from new parks, homes and retailers to commercial and industrial parks. To better understand brownfield redevelopment and its benefits, here are answers to some commo...
