By Kristin F. Daltonkdalton, Staten Island Live (NY)

Following two years of work on the West Shore, the 179-acre area has been designated a Brownfield Opportunity Area, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced. 

…

Recommendations from the study include major site renovations or developments for seven underutilized properties on the 179 acres, roadway consolidation and infrastructure improvements, and expanded public transit that will serve the Amazon and IKEA facilities.

The study paid careful attention to creating a district flood resiliency plan, which anticipates flooding issues associated with sea-level rising water in the West Shore's low-lying areas that currently have limited sewer and stormwater infrastructure.

...

For the entire article, see

https://www.silive.com/news/2018/06/west_shore_brownfield_grant.html

Area Development News 

Construction stated on GlassWorks Business Park in Clarion, Clarion County, Pennsylvania. The $39 million project will convert a 28.5-acre brownfield site formerly housing the Owens-Illinois Glass Plant into a compound with seven building pads ready for development.

Property owner Miles Brothers LLC and the Clarion County Industrial Development Authority partnered to develop the land into seven pads suitable for office, warehouse, or light industrial use by installing utilities, lighting, and water and sewer infrastructure and excavating, grading, and paving the sites. DCED has committed a $1,033,214 Business in Our Sites grant and a $4,256,952 Business in Our Sites low-interest loan to the project that Miles Brothers credits for enabling the project to happen.

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At its peak, more than 1,500 Clarion-area residents worked in the Owens-Illinois Glass Plant, which manufactured a variety of glass containers like jars and bottles. It closed in 2010 after 105 years in the community, and the facility was partially demolished in 2012, leaving behind a brownfield site that requires extensive remediation.

…

For the entire article, see

http://www.areadevelopment.com/newsItems/6-18-2018/glassworks_business_parkclarion_clarion_county_pennsylvania.shtml

Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator Pete Lopez today presented New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Jersey City and Prologis, Inc. – the company responsible for the cleanup and reuse of the site – with the Excellence in Site Reuse Award. NJDEP Deputy Commissioner Debbie Mans, Jersey City Deputy Mayor Marcos Vigil and representatives from Prologis, Inc. accepted the Excellence in Site Reuse Award for work at the PJP Landfill Superfund site in Jersey City, N.J.

The award recognizes Superfund site partners who have collaborated with EPA to support redeveloping Superfund sites in ways that are beneficial to the community and compatible with the cleanup.  The PJP Landfill Superfund site is home to a newly constructed warehouse and distribution center, continued commercial use, public open space and restored wetlands.

“This has truly been a collaborative effort between local, state and federal agencies and the community to turn this once environmentally compromised site into an economic and community asset,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. “The Excellence in Reuse award underscores how Superfund cleanups translate into tangible benefits for local communities, businesses and an area’s entire ecosystem. Redevelopment of this site will continue bringing economic, ecological and recreational benefits to the Jersey City community.”

“This is truly an environmental success story, one in which a landfill that once was notorious for long-burning underground fires and exposed wastes has been reclaimed for productive commercial use,” DEP Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe said. “We are proud to accept this award, which acknowledges the many years of hard work the DEP – in partnership with the EPA, Jersey City and Prologis – has dedicated to turning a major environmental problem for the city into a project that is creating jobs and economic development.”

“The City is excited to be involved with the transformation of the once blighted landfill into a viable, mixed-use waterfront property for the public to enjoy,” said Jersey City Deputy Mayor Marcos Vigil.

“When we acquired this former landfill back in 2008, we knew it would take a great deal of tenacity and teamwork to transform a site many thought could never be developed,” said Prologis’ Senior Vice President Steve Campbell. “The key to success was a public-private partnership that allowed Prologis to work closely with Waste Management Corporation, the EPA, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey local and state political leadership and, most importantly, the local community. The outcome has been positive for both the environment and the regional economy.”

Contact: Elias Rodriguez, (212) 637-3664, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov

By Steve Dwyer

There are a number of sports stadiums that have been built on former brownfields that get a lot of national attention—and do so because of their sheer size and overall scale. Target Field in Minneapolis, the Washington National’s ballpark are two good examples.

However, a local community, county or township can construct indoor/outdoor sports facilities in a more modest fashion and still reap big results—such as becoming a destination magnet for local, state and regional teams to participate in tournaments. 

If the development vision is laser-focused, the project can wrap the sports component around other profit centers, such as shopping, restaurants, museums and hotels, the latter a must as tournaments attract families who seek lodging over weekend stays. 

This spring, a group in Somerset, N.J. said it was poised to christen a 40-acre indoor/outdoor sports facility located on remediated property on Mountain View Rd. The redevelopment has a golden opportunity to score in many of the diversified ways that have been cited. 

Apparently, the approval process is navigating nicely, with work on the project hitting full bore this summer, according to TapInto.net, an online newspaper serving Somerset, N.J.

Gregg Wilke, developer and owner of the Apex Sports & Events facility, also owns the HRC Gym and Fitness Center in the area, a family fitness and wellness gym offering programs and amenities for children, adults and seniors.

The Apex project will be built adjacent to Mountain View Park, a 369-acre outdoor sports complex owned jointly by the township and Somerset County, and situated on remediated property formerly part of the Belle Mead Government Service Administration Depot, a federal government property.

Apex will complement the adjacent Mountain View Park facilities, creating a massive sports and recreation destination not only for township sports leagues and clubs, but for similar organizations from surrounding towns and throughout the state. It will rival similar facilities in New Jersey, according to the newspaper report. 

“At Apex, our mission is to create a state-of-the-art unique competition and training facility for Hillsborough that serves the year-round sports and recreation needs of the local families while promoting a healthy lifestyle for the community and assisting in the development of our young athletes,” Wilkie said to the online publication, adding that he hopes to open the outdoor turf fields in the spring of 2019 and the indoor complex later that year.

The Apex complex will feature synthetic turf field designated for use by township organizations, and there will be two other synthetic turf fields installed on the 40-acre expanse. All outdoor fields will be lighted. The centerpiece will be a 210,000-square foot indoor facility including two domes. 

The larger of the two domes will enclose a full-size indoor soccer field, also suitable for lacrosse and football. The smaller dome will be used for training programs, work outs and fitness training. There will be indoor basketball and volleyball courts, batting cages and pitching tunnels, a mezzanine viewing area, café and concessions area, multi-purpose rooms, team rooms and space for other activities, including a kids’ adventure area with rock climbing and other family-friendly activities.

No doubt about it, sports-oriented redevelopments have a chance to carve out huge dividends to breath life into a local community—and do so across several facets. It goes to show that in executing such end uses on former brownfields, you don’t always need to "Go Big" to succeed.

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $500,000 in supplemental funding to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania to assist with the cleanup of contaminated brownfields properties.

“This funding will provide Montgomery County with resources to continue its cleanup work on contaminated properties throughout the county,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio. “Returning these lands to beneficial reuse is the goal, and this grant will help the county reach that milestone at additional locations.”

Montgomery County is one of 33 municipalities nationwide to receive a portion of the $15.7 million in supplemental funding for existing Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) grantees so they can carry out cleanup and redevelopment projects.

“The Redevelopment Authority and Montgomery County are appreciative of the financial and technical support provided by EPA in helping us return numerous brownfields sites to productive use,” said John Nugent, Executive Director of the Montgomery County Redevelopment Authority. “Our collaborative work with EPA can be seen in projects where remediation has resulted in significant job creation, assisted with economic viability and supported the development of affordable housing.”

Today’s announcement took place at the former Ambler Boiler House property, a former industrial site that was cleaned up with a prior RLF grant and is now the Ambler Boiler House office building, a multi-tenant workplace where more than 300 people are employed.

Since 1999, EPA has provided Montgomery County with nearly $4 million in brownfields funding to assess, cleanup and spur redevelopment of brownfields sites. The most recent funding was used to remediate parking lots at the Boiler House office complex and the Ambler Crossings luxury apartments. Past brownfields funds have been used for sites in Pottstown, Upper Dublin and Abington Townships.

The Brownfields RLF program supports EPA’s commitment to assist communities in addressing environmentally challenged properties and meet their local revitalization priorities. The funds help communities reuse vacant and abandoned properties and turn them into community assets such as housing, recreation and open space, health facilities, social services, transportation options, infrastructure and commerce opportunities.

RLFs specifically supply funding for loans and sub-grants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfields sites. These funds are provided to communities that have shown success in cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields sites.

A recent national study shows that cleaning up brownfields areas leads to residential property value increases of 5 - 15.2 percent within a 1.24-mile radius of the site. Another study analyzing data near 48 brownfields found that an estimated $29 to $97 million in additional tax revenue is generated for local governments in a single year after cleanup. This is two to seven times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of those brownfields.

More information on EPA’s Brownfields program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields and a complete list of grantees is available at: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/announcing-fy18-supplemental-funding-brownfields-revolving-loan-fund-grants.

By:  Rick Shoyer, Advanced GeoServices and BCONE Advisory Board 

License renewal needs to be done online

Guidance Documents to be updated this year

Soil reuse was discussed

Dataminer presentation focused on the LSRP comprehensive report

HDSRF legislation changes to reduce funding for private companies and some for municipalities, did not affect non-profits

SRRA 2.0 (David Haymes) stakeholder meeting at NJDEP on July 16th 

Licensing Board put out a 12 page Site Remediation Reform Act Issues, Recommendations and Language Amendments document.

by Kevin Jolly, Spectrum News (Buffalo, NY)

A lakeside stretch of Lackawanna long known for industry is going to become the Shoreline Trail; 140 acres of land off of Route 5, dormant for 30 years, about to be reborn.

"Some of it we're keeping as a buffer zone for now with the green space, but the area behind that is going to be turned into a modern industrial park, and not the heavy industry of the past, but e-commerce, for logistics, for advanced manufacturing, the type of industry that we want to bring to this community," said County Executive Mark Poloncarz, D-Erie County.

The parcel of land at the historic Bethlehem Steel site was purchased by Erie County last year. A fence that used to line the pathway was taken down and the old rails must be removed from the brownfield.

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For the entire article, see

http://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/news/2018/05/31/transforming-the-old-bethlehem-steel-site-

by Alex Vuocolo, Delaware Business Times

The planned redevelopment of the former General Motors plant at 801 Boxwood Road outside Wilmington will produce more than $281 million in annual impact and create 2,100 permanent jobs, according to a report by Econsult Solutions.

Newport-based developer Harvey Hanna & Associates, Inc., which commissioned the study, released the results on Thursday.

“Since purchasing the former GM plant in 2017, Harvey Hanna’s plans for the property have been focused on a singular mission to create thousands of lasting, 21st century jobs for the residents of Wilmington, New Castle County and greater Delaware,” said Thomas J. Hanna, president of Harvey Hanna & Associates. “This study affirms our belief that creating a modern distribution and business campus can help restore this property’s long history as a vital source of employment and a nucleus for the local economy.”

Construction would generate $6.8 million in taxes for the state, and another $7.6 million in annual revenue through personal and business taxes upon completion, according to the study. Red Clay School District and New Castle County will also benefit, with $2.4 million in new property taxes.

…

For the entire article, see

http://www.delawarebusinesstimes.com/harvey-hanna-development-at-boxwood-road-to-create-2100-jobs/

TIME SENSITIVE for BCONE MEMBERS:  If you want to comment on recommendations coming out of USEPA’s Superfund Task Force, our BCONE Advisory Board member Colleen Kokas of Environmental Liability Transfer, Inc. tells us that comments are due June 26, 2018  on the two listening sessions held on June 5, 2018. Please see her by-line below.

BCONE Board member Larry Schnapf, Esq. of New York represented BCONE’s interests in his comments delivered in the afternoon session of June 5.  You can view Larry's written comments to the EPA here.   

Summary of by EPA Listening Sessions

by Colleen Kokas, Environmental Liability Transfer

The USEPA Superfund Taskforce ‘s report includes 42 recommendations to explore in its quest to improve the Superfund program. On June 5, EPA conducted separate listening sessions on two of the recommendations from the Superfund Taskforce Report, specifically, “Exploring CERCLA Environmental Liability Transfer Approaches” and “New Tools to Encourage Private Investment in Superfund Cleanups and Reuse” .  EPA took oral comments during the sessions and will take written comment on these topics through June 26, 2018.  And although EPA posed specific questions on which to focus, it is open to any and all suggestions in these topic areas.

The first listening session,  “Exploring CERCLA Environmental Liability Transfer Approaches” (Recommendation #22) outlined the basics of liability transfer, illustrating the concept with 2 specific cases.  The session can be found at  https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/listening-sessions-superfund-task-force-recommendations (click on June 5, 2018 session).  The substantive portion of the presentation is only about 30 minutes.  The questions that EPA thought useful in developing an action plan include:

• What tools are parties using to allocate risk?
  
• What kind of sites are amenable to the ELT approach?
  
• What factors make the use of an ELT more/less useful?
  
• How can EPA encourage the use of ELTs in transactions?
  

The second listening session, “Exploring CERCLA Environmental Liability Transfer Approaches” (Recommendation #27) outlined the tools that EPA uses to support the transfer of contaminated sites.  Larry Schnapf, representing the interest of BCONE, provided many valuable comments during the presentation, many related to the current  The presentation can be found at https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/listening-sessions-superfund-task-force-recommendations#5.  The questions posed by EPA include:

• What are the significant factors that impact a financial organization’s, purchaser’s, or other third party’s decision to invest in contaminated or previously-contaminated property?
• What does the private sector see as barriers to investing in the cleanup and reuse of contaminated sites?
• What are specific liability concerns of lenders/financial institutions, investors, purchasers or third parties that CERCLA does not address through its liability defenses and EPA does not address through its existing tools?
• What new tools or approaches from EPA would help alleviate these concerns, including any specific language that could be added to existing tools to facilitate financing or acquisition?

The Superfund Taskforce has created a resource page that includes the report, quarterly accomplishments and information about future listening sessions.  See https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-task-force.

By Steve Dwyer

Campbell Soup Co. is putting the finishing touches on a 4.4-megawatt solar energy system installation at its 38-acre Camden, N.J. headquarters, including panels mounted to rooftops, positioned on a reclaimed brownfield and on canopies built over employee parking lots.

The installation is scheduled to be in full operation by this Fall and will generate more than 5m kilowatt hours of electricity annually.

With the continuously increasing demand for electric power, the significantly high price of oil and the growing concern for the environment, many businesses similar to Campbell’s are resorting to alternative sources of energy like this one. And it’s a prudent decision for a host of reasons, including reduction of operating costs, strong return on investment, maintenance-free and amp-reliable, and it provides a chance to earn the Green LEED label designation—garneting a “halo effect” for any business.

Campbell indicated that the solar project will generate about 5 million kilowatt hours a year, or about 20% of the campus’ annual energy demand. Under terms of a 20-year power purchase agreement, Campbell will pay a fixed rate that is currently “well below” its current power costs.

One cautionary tale when it comes to a solar investment is establishing a process or system to calibrate the proper distribution of power throughout the course each day—matching daily demand with supply requirements and understanding the ebb and flow of power usage from a day-part perspective.

For example, the California Independent System Operator established the “duck curve,” as a typical day’s electricity demand historically features two peaks: One in the morning and a larger one in the afternoon. There’s a trough, or “shoulder,” period between them. Fleets of different power plants are fired up to meet this pattern of daily electricity demand and to match the ramp-up and ramp-down.

That’s a phenomenon that large corporations like Campbell are sure to have studied and are in the process of refining in a qualitative way. The New Jersey project was developed by BNB Renewable Energy Holdings using systems developed by SunPower Corp. BNB and financial company Orix USA will own the system, which is being financed through Public Service Electric & Gas Co.’s solar loan program.

Campbell partnered with BNB Renewable Energy Holdings (BNB), SunPower Corp. and ORIX USA Corp. in the initiative. The project is the third solar installation BNB has developed for Campbell, having also worked on solar power facilities at the company's plant in Napoleon, Ohio and at its Pepperidge Farm bakery in Connecticut. 

Jim Prunesti, Campbell’s global engineering vice-president, said in a statement recently: “This project contributes clean energy to the local grid and demonstrates to our community the viability of renewable energy sources, all while supporting Campbell’s sustainability strategy to deliver long-term value to our business and neighborhoods.”

In November, Campbell was among 15 companies named as members of the “inaugural class” of US Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions, a national campaign to recognize U.S. businesses and organizations pledging concrete steps to reduce food loss and waste in their operations by 50% by 2030.

Among the renewable energy sources, solar energy is a sustainable choice and one that can be used in various applications. Many businesses are now tapping into this alternative source of energy, hoping to benefit from its numerous advantages, including:

Reduced Operating Costs. Solar power systems will reduce or even eliminate your office building’s electric bill. For big and small businesses, this money savings can have a tremendous impact. Having a solar power system installed is the equivalent to prepaying for almost 40 years of energy, but at just a fraction of what you are currently paying for electricity. The cost per unit of your current energy costs is likely much higher than what you would spend for solar power. This results in further savings for your business.

Good Return on Investment. Government incentives and the decrease of solar equipment costs means the utilization of solar power is a sound investment and a good financial decision for public agencies and businesses. Investing in solar power generates both long-term savings and quick payback.

Maintenance-Free.  Once installed, a solar power system will require little or no maintenance at all, most especially if there are no batteries being used. The system will provide electricity quietly and cleanly for 25 to 40 years. Many solar panels carry a 25-year warranty.

Earning the "Green" Label. Utilizing electricity from solar power will result in reduced consumption of fuels, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. By using this alternative source, any business or company can express its participation in the battle against global warming and can reduce the country’s dependence on foreign sources. Going green will not only reduce operation expenses but will serve as a great PR and marketing tool. Having an environmentally responsible image is good for any company, as it can generate a positive response from consumers.