BROWNFIELDS: THE FACE OF URBAN BLIGHT
Do you know where the brownfields near your home are? Neither do we.
Brownfields are the face of urban blight — abandoned or disused industrial sites whose rehabilitation may be hampered by possible environmental contamination. Brownfields are sometimes upgraded to actual Superfund sites when the level of contamination is fully investigated.
However, while there is a directory of Superfund toxic waste sites, no such listing exists for brownfields. It’s estimated that there are 10,000 brownfield sites in 30 cities across New York State. Forty percent of the city of Buffalo is brownfield. Many of these brownfields are in areas ripe for redevelopment, including on scenic waterfronts, but they need to be cleaned up before they can be turned into usable property.
In October of 2003, Governor Pataki signed a law that refinanced the State Superfund and created a landmark new program to clean up brownfields in New York State. While that is a major step in the right direction, the law states that brownfield clean-up standards will be set at different levels depending on the proposed future land use. In other states where land use has been a factor, the resulting standards have varied widely — in some cases by several orders of magnitude.
We need to make sure that the brownfield clean-ups are held to the most stringent standards, in order to protect our groundwater supplies and the health of our most sensitive populations, including children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Health are charged with developing the new brownfield soil clean-up standards and circulating them to the public for review. However, due to the complexity of these standards, they are already almost a year behind schedule. The agencies have committed to holding three public hearings across the state and holding a four-month public comment period on the draft regulations.
NYPIRG will be mobilizing local communities to get out to the meetings to make their voices heard. We will also be calling for more than three public hearings to be held. Brownfields are scattered all across the state, and that means the comment process shouldn’t be restricted to just a small number of locations. All New Yorkers should have a chance to have their say! We will also be working with scientists, public health experts, and other environmental groups to review and critique the state’s proposed new standards.
To find out more, contact Laura Haight at lhaight@nypirg.org.