While the broken down appliances littering your neighbor’s yard may be unsightly, chances are you’re not living next to a brownfield. By definition, brownfields are properties in which expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. Examples of brownfields include former manufacturing facilities, gas stations, dumps, and small businesses such as dry cleaners or printers. Brownfields can occur in both rural and urban settings, and may even occupy downtown centers or existing neighborhoods.
If you have read the description of a brownfield and believe you know of such a site, we want to hear from you. Please use the form below to nominate the potential site for inclusion in the current brownfields assessment. The final decision as to which sites are ultimately assessed will be based on recommendations from the Brownfields Advisory Committee, which takes into consideration sites nominated using this form.
To submit the form electronically, please follow these directions:
1. Complete the survey and click on the "submit by email" button at the end.
2. Select your email type.
3. Click "send data file." Your email will open.
4. Send the email as you normally would.Yes. In fact, a key characteristic of a brownfield site is that it is targeted for redevelopment. Generally, brownfield sites cannot have levels of contamination that would place them on either the National Priority List (Superfund sites) or a State priority list. As such, brownfield sites are not likely to cause immediate or serious health effects to individuals living or working around them. In fact, redeveloping brownfields is a good public health practice that prevents exposure to hazardous substances, eliminates physical hazards, and improves the community’s overall quality of life.
Before being redeveloped, brownfields must first be assessed. Assessment involves discovering a property’s history, likely activities, and previous ownership, as well as taking samples to determine the types and amounts of contaminants actually present in soil, air, or groundwater. Understanding a property’s profile is the first step in its eventual redevelopment, allowing neighbors, developers, and municipal officials to share the same information about the brownfield property. Once the assessment is complete, cleanup and redevelopment can begin. Depending on the type, quantity, and toxicity of the contamination, cleanup activities may include soil, surface water, or groundwater remediation.
For more information on the brownfields redevelopment process, read the EPA’s Anatomy of Brownfields Redevelopment brochure.
Cleaning up and redeveloping brownfield sites benefits communities by:
* Increasing the local tax base
* Facilitating job growth
* Utilizing existing infrastructure
* Taking development pressure off undeveloped land
* Improving & protecting the environment
Page updated 3/17/08
