By Tyler Marko, Long Island Herald (NY)

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation is reviewing an application from Coland Realty LLC that would incorporate a section of the Far Rockaway Long Island Railroad line that includes the Inwood station, into the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program.

The New York State Department of Conservation is investigating the site. The program application was submitted on Oct. 10, and the public comment period ends on Nov. 9. The goal of the Brownfield Cleanup Program is to encourage private-sector cleanups and the promotion of redevelopment through tax incentives. 

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According to the DEC, the primary contaminant of concern is mercury, which originated from the rectifiers that were on Redfern Avenue at the Queens borders and powered the Inwood station until 1979. “This type of contamination is something that is common at various LIRR owned properties,” said DEC spokesman Bill Fonda.

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For the entire article, see

http://liherald.com/fivetowns/stories/remediating-an-inwood-and-far-rockaway-site,108993

Steve Cook provided insight to a standing room of attendees at the PA Brownfield Conference on the issues that are important for EPA to tackle. Adaptive management, groundwater restoration and risk communication were center stage on that agenda.  While the issues are not unique to brownfields remediation and reuse, they certainly impact them directly.  

Adaptive Management is a formal and systematic project management approach centered on rigorous site planning and a firm understanding of site conditions and uncertainties.  This technique encourages continuous reevaluation and management prioritization of activities to account for new information and changing site conditions.  In action, adaptive management could result in EPA’s increased use of removal actions to significantly reduce existing exposures at a site, interim remedial actions and phased action based on operable units.

EPA acknowledged that the state regulations on how clean is clean when addressing groundwater, varies greatly in each state.  Greater coordination with the states is necessary in establishing the appropriate groundwater cleanup standards for sites.  This will only get more complex as states advance their work in risk exposure for emerging contaminants.

And lastly, everyone is familiar with at least one site in which an Institutional Control (IC) was used as part of an approved remedy.  As the years pass, work is needed to ensure that the existence of an IC at a site continues to be recognized and complied with by subsequent owners/operators of a site.  This is great insight into a future problem that we all hope never comes to fruition.  

by Colleen Kokas, Environmental Liability Transfer 

BCONE members participated in a day-long workshop sponsored by the Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR) in Camden recently.  The program, “Accelerated Land Reuse for Community Revitalization,” provided a forum for questions and answers on brownfield legal liability, regulatory issues, funding resources, assessment/remediation and community engagement to help boost redevelopment efforts.  Two panel sessions, “Ask the Experts” and “Show Me The Money,” consisted of public and private-sector experts to spark the discussion. These were followed by the opportunity to meet one-on-one with a broader range of professionals from the public and private sectors to learn about steps to initiate or accelerate the redevelopment of distressed sites for community revitalization.

BCONE and CCLR, the Technical Assistance to Brownfields grantee for EPA Region 2, have a common mission of educating and connecting stakeholders to advance brownfield remediation and redevelopment.  The groups continue to strengthen their partnership through events such as this. 

The “Ask the Experts” panel was moderated by BCONE Advisory Council member, Colleen Kokas, and featured BCONE Board member, Wanda Chin Monahan, who offered information on the liability scheme in New Jersey and at the Federal level, specifically with CERCLA.  Questions from attendees covered a wide range of issues such as:

• The impact of the new definition of “person” in NJAC 7:26C, Technical Rules for Site Remediation, that make it more difficult for corporate officials to avoid personal liability for contamination/site cleanups;
• Strategies for addressing owners that are unwilling to convey brownfield sites due to the potential identification of contamination and the stigma that could bring to the site;
• “Non-starters” on a potential deal in a municipality;
• Input on whether you can really rely on a prior PA/SI to support an innocent purchaser defense under NJSA 58:23.11, the Spill Compensation and Control Act; and
• What advice is there for Mayors seeking support from the community on a potential redevelopment project?

The “Show Me The Money” panel featured representatives from EPA Region 2, NJ Department of Environmental Protection, NJ Economic Development Authority and NJ Infrastructure Bank, moderated by CCLR’s David Southgate.  Again, the attendees were very interested in the topic, since it can be a critical gap in brownfield projects.  Topics discussed included:

• EDA’s new $250,000 grant program “21st Century Assistance” that plans to be the catalyst to give new life to at least five idled strip malls and office parks;
• The announcement of EDA’s plan to develop a Brownfield Tax Credit program and a Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund (that is not legislatively driven);
• The best way to draft a “Road Map” for financing and other resources to identify a path forward on a project; and
• The “real deal” on what a developer needs to provide to the Infrastructure Bank when partnering with a municipality on a conduit loan.

A lunchtime tribute to the late George Kelly, who was a friend to the brownfield community, active in revitalizing Camden and an original member of the NJ Brownfield Redevelopment Task Force was provided by Chris Hager, a colleague and friend at Langan Engineering.   

The day ended with over a dozen representatives from state and federal agencies participating in one-on-one roundtable sessions, where attendees could ask more specific questions and get into a deeper dialogue about revitalization issues.  Some other agencies not represented on the morning panels included US Commerce (Economic Development Authority), NJ Office for Planning Advocacy, NJ Business Action Center, NJDOT, NJ Department of Community Affairs, NJ State Council on the Arts and NJ Green Acres Program.  

Attendees stated over and over throughout the day that the biggest benefit of attending a workshop is to get to meet the contacts for these important program/offices so that they can build relationships with the people.  BCONE continues to seek symbiotic relationships with organizations such as CCLR on events like this one in Camden.  When you see the wide-range of issues discussed, the guidance and advice provided by experts and the value openly expressed by the attendees, it benefits those brownfield stakeholders that BCONE seeks to educate.  

by Stephen Huba, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (PA)

A study is underway that will determine the best use for a piece of property that Mt. Pleasant Borough received from the Levin family 10 years ago. 

The 7.6-acre brownfield site on Bridgeport Street used to be home to the Bryce Brothers Glass Co., which became part of Lenox Crystal in the mid-1900s. 

Levin Furniture later obtained the property and used the building as a warehouse. An arson in 1998 destroyed the warehouse, which had been mostly emptied after Levin moved to Fitz Henry in South Huntingdon. 

The land donation was approved by borough council in 2008, triggering a lengthy process of environmental review.

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For the entire article, see

https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/14202813-74/study-of-mt-pleasant-brownfield-site-will-develop-plan-for-potential-uses

There will be about 29,000 tons of contaminated soil removed from the property to make it safe for construction.

By Alex Costello, Long Beach Patch (NY)

After many years of delay, the brownfield site on the southern tip of Harbor Isle is scheduled to be remediated.

The former Cibro Petroleum site, located off Island Parkway South, will be cleaned by the Posillico Development Company, which is planning to build condos on the site.

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For the entire article, see

https://patch.com/new-york/longbeach/harbor-isle-brownfield-be-cleaned-make-way-condos

The company issued a request for qualifications for the Mill District, the first phase of the Hazelwood Green waterfront property.

by Barbra Murray, Commercial Property Executive

Almono LLC recently took a significant step forward in the development of Hazelwood Green, a 178-acre mixed-use project in the Hazelwood neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The company issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for the Mill District, the first phase of the waterfront property.

Almono LLC is the general partner of Hazelwood Green owner Almono LP, which is a partnership of Pittsburgh’s Richard King Mellon Foundation, Heinz Endowments and the Benedum Foundation. The charitable organizations came together in 2002 to acquire and land bank the project site, which holds the distinction of being the last developable tract of sizeable riverfront property in Pittsburgh. The partnership held back on developing the property—a brownfield site that had been home to LTV Steel—until it determined the timing was right to move forward. With RFQ responses due by the middle of November, Almono LLC is set to begin selecting developers in the first quarter of 2019.

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For the entire article, see

https://www.cpexecutive.com/post/almono-seeks-developers-for-1b-pittsburgh-mixed-use-project/

By Steve Dwyer 

In mid-September, about 50 students attending the University of Connecticut (UCONN) experienced a teaching moment from a brownfields practitioner. 

BCONE President, Stephen Jaffe, participated in a lecture to UCONN engineering and environmental students—some of whom might set out to pursue a career in brownfield redevelopment—on the topic of “Brownfield Due Diligence.” 

Jaffe was duly qualified to speak about a host of specific brownfield-oriented themes to the students. The event was all part of BCONE’s mission to fan out across the region to inform and enlighten both public and private organizations about the brownfield redevelopment way. 

“We have always known it’s vital to put BCONE out there to inform—not only via networking but through teaching,” says Jaffe. “We understand the value of getting young students involved at the ground floor, During the lecture, they were very excited to learn about the many aspects of due diligence within brownfield reuse and redevelopment—aspects that are so essential to what we do on a daily basis.”  

Carrying out similar events and seminars across other BCONE states—from university to state agency engagement—Jaffe says it’s important to deliver “updated policies but also to tell about the success stories within brownfields.” 

Jaffe’s September presentation had an added incentive: The UCONN environmental and engineering students have a chance to secure a BCONE-sponsored scholarship, to be determined at the end of the semester, for their work within the brownfield redevelopment industry. (More details on this to come in a future news report.) 

Speaking to the students who function within UCONN’s Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering class, Jaffe’s lecture outline underscored the overarching theme of “Brownfield Property Acquisition.” Drilling down further, such topics discussed included negotiations and the way brownfield stakeholders must allot adequate time to conduct due diligence. From there, Jaffe detailed relevance of professional consultant retention, environmental, wetlands/floodway, archeological, geotech, title, zoning, traffic, use/density, politics, utilities, application fees, absorption study and cost estimates. 

Additional pillars of the lecture focused on New Jersey Redevelopment Law, which entailed redevelopment vs. rehabilitation, interim and final redeveloper designations, redevelopment agreements and redevelopment plans. It went on to focus on approvals, property closings and a case study focusing on the Haddon Town Center, a successful mixed-use apartment and retail community located in Haddon Township, N.J. 

Once students had a chance to hear Jaffe’s presentation, they were able to take that knowledge and apply it to a semester-long course within UCONN’s CT Brownfields Initiative/Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering. The class is being presented by Nefeli Bompoti, Ph.D., assistant research professor, and Marisa Chrysochoou, Ph.D., director. 

The learning objectives of the course include both technical skills specific to brownfield redevelopment and non-technical skills related to communication and management. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to identify the status of a site as brownfield; articulate the relevant laws and regulations that govern the management of a brownfield site; identify and describe how federal, state, regional and municipal levels of government are involved in the process of redeveloping brownfield sites; identity and describe how private development entities are involved in the process of redeveloping brownfield sites; describe the potential funding sources to cover the different stages of a brownfield redevelopment (investigation, clean up, development); list the different phases of a site investigation, the objectives of each phase and the methodology to develop a plan for each phase.

The students who excel the highest in this course will be awarded with the scholarship—to be determined by both UCONN professors and a third party group. BCONE’s scholarship was established in 2018, in memory of Charlie Bartsch, former member of the BCONE Board of Directors and the nation's passionate voice promoting the importance of brownfields remediation and redevelopment.  Charlie was the leading guru on how to assemble a variety of state and federal incentives to enhance projects of interest to the community. Contributions in Charlie’s memory are funding the scholarship at UCONN (and one in New Jersey and one in PA), the details of which will be shared in a news report later this year.  

RE developers can use everything from old government facilities to brownfield sites to capitalize on the need for last mile warehouses.

by Joseph A. Panepinto Sr., National Real Estate Investor

Amazon launched the age of e-commerce when it shipped its first bookout of a garage in 1995. Since that beginning, consumers have grown to embrace the ‘e-tail’ lifestyle. Millennials are now driving the demand for everything from toilet paper to make-up delivered to their doorstep. To accommodate this growth, e-retailers are snapping up industrial-use land and buildings as close as possible to the consumers they need to serve.

Access to the ”last mile” of delivery in urban locations has become one of the most critical factors in site selection. Facilities must not only be the right size, they must also have access to a highway and/or waterway, appropriate zoning, an accessible employee base and be as close as possible to their customers.

Traditionally, open plan, one-story buildings have been used as warehouses. Today, buildings of several forms can be utilized, including former big-box stores; industrial sites in various stages of remediation; under-used office space; and, in one instance in Chicago, an underutilized parking garage.

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For the entire article, see

https://www.nreionline.com/industrial/e-commerce-industry-s-last-mile-needs-create-new-demand-old-warehouse-space

By Michael Bliss, VP Sales & Marketing at Hill Environmental

On Thursday, September 13, 2018, the Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast (BCONE) hosted a “Current Opportunities in the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Marketplace,” featuring Cosmo Servidio, USEPA Regional Administrator for the Mid-Atlantic Region and Patrick Patterson, Regional Director for the PADEP Southeast region. The sold-out event was held at the Center City Philadelphia offices of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC and was attended by 55 environmental professionals from various backgrounds.

Regional Administrator Servidio spoke about the importance of collaboration and partnerships in redeveloping areas in Pennsylvania. The goal under his leadership is to see the redevelopment marketplace thrive. He stressed the importance of partnering with the state, the success of the Act 2 program and making the process of brownfield redevelopment easier for all parties involved.  Currently, Mr. Servidio noted that communication across government, private and public entities can be improved to help accomplish this. Ultimately, he stated that redevelopment decisions should  be made based on regulations, science, and data.

Mr. Servidio further noted that BCONE’s members are the experts and problem solvers who are an integral part of improving the redevelopment process for all parties involved. An invitation was extended for BCONE to host an event at the EPA office at a future date.    

Regional Director Patterson, based in Norristown, Pennsylvania, stressed that solutions can be found to just about any issues in redevelopment by working together. Mr. Patterson noted that over 6,000 sites have been cleaned up via the Act 2 program in Pennsylvania. In addition, 1,400 properties from the Southeast Regional office have been remediated with 1,100 more in various stages of the process. Current challenges include funding; legislation is anticipated to make funding easier for involved parties.  

In summary, Mr. Servidio and Mr. Patterson emphasized cooperation and that BCONE plays an important part in that process. Environmental professionals can benefit and gain knowledge about the process through BCONE and becoming active participants.   

The event included networking with light fare and a reception with beautiful views of the Philadelphia skyline.  Many thanks to BCONE’s venue host, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC and to the evening’s event sponsors Clean Earth, Geosyntec Consultants, Langan, Environmental Standards, Whitman, AECOM, Syngergy Environmental, Pennoni, Terraphase Engineering, Hill Environmental Group, and Willis Towers Watson. Thanks to the event committee: Mike Bliss of  Hill Environmental, Brian Clark of Buchanan of Ingersoll & Rooney PC, Skelly Holmbeck of Montrose Environmental and member of the BCONE Board of Directors and Elizabeth Limbrick of NJIT and the TAB Program for USEPA Region 3.  Mr. Bliss, Mr. Clark and Ms. Limbrick are all members of the BCONE Advisory Board.

Photos of the Event: