by Pamela MacKenzie, My Central Jersey

Public Service Electric & Gas, New Jersey's oldest and largest publicly owned utility, is about to bring a new solar farm online in Edison.

This solar array, which will produce 7.75 megawatts of power — enough to power 1,300 homes — is one of the last sites to come online in the current phase of the utility's Solar 4 All program. When completed, PSE&G will be generating nearly 125 megawatts of power through the Solar 4 All program, which includes arrays on utility poles in North, Central and South Jersey (40 megawatts) and other solar facilities on buildings, brownfields and other sites.

The new solar array, which has been under construction since June of 2016, is built on the old ILR landfill. It is PSE&G's second solar farm on a landfield or brownfield in Edison. The first was at the PSE&G-owned Silver Lake site at the foot of Silver Lake Avenue, which was polluted around the time of the Civil War.

...

For the entire article, see http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/how-we-live/2016/12/17/new-solar-farm-edison-comes-online-month/95331544/

Watertown Daily Times (NY)

Community leaders have been debating how to best use the land in Massena where General Motors once stood, an issue that requires serious contemplation.

St. Lawrence County previously received a Brownfield Opportunity Area grant from the New York Department of State to draft a plan for how to use the site. Since the GM plant closed, the property has undergone cleanup efforts to remove contaminated soil.

"The Massena Site Brownfield Opportunity Area Revitalization Plan (Massena BOA) process is building upon the substantial efforts of the North Country Revitalization Task Force, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and site owner RACER Trust to help transform the site into a community asset and a force in driving the recovery of the regional economy," according to information on the website for the Massena Site Brownfield Opportunity Area Revitalization Plan. "Since the closure of the former GM Massena plant in 2009, the North Country Revitalization Task Force has brought together municipalities (town of Massena, village of Massena, St. Lawrence County), St. Regis Mohawk tribal government, businesses, economic development agencies, organized labor and property owners to advance revitalization opportunities for the local economy."

For the entire article, see

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/opinion/planting-digital-seeds-former-gm-site-in-massena-would-be-good-spot-for-server-farm-20161210

by Ben Lambert, Torrington Register Citizen (CT)

The city is working to turn brownfield sites, which are common in the city and can decrease surrounding property values, into economic boons, using a new brownfield-area revitalization study.

Valarie Ferro of Good Earth Advisors and Geoffery Fitzgerald, manager of civil engineering with BL Companies, came before Economic Development Commission and other city officials Tuesday to give an overview of the study, which is being largely funded by a $200,000 grant received from the state in January.

Aspects of the planned study include a market analysis, with the aim of bringing the people and demographics of Litchfield County into Torrington — the city’s status as the center of a micropolitan area was noted during the discussion — consideration of past environmental studies, and design of potential infrastructure projects, including the Naugatuck River Greenway and a pedestrian plaza on Franklin Street, if that five-way intersection is permanently closed.
…

For the entire article, see
http://www.registercitizen.com/government-and-politics/20161213/city-seeks-better-understanding-of-brownfields-market-with-new-study

by Peter Maloney, Utility Dive

* Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) is awaiting approval from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) for its plans to develop 33 MW of solar projects at existing landfill and brownfield locations.

* PSEG subsidiary Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) in May asked BPU to expand its "Solar 4 All" program to allow it to invest $275 million to install 100 MW of solar capacity on landfill and brownfield sites by 2022.

...

For the entire article, see

http://www.utilitydive.com/news/pseg-close-to-approval-for-33-mw-of-brownfield-landfill-solar/429895/

by Chris Caya, WBFO Public Radio (Buffalo, NY)

The name "brownfield" may not sound appealing. In fact, New York State offers incentives to clean up contaminated properties. One successful project has reopened after sitting vacant for nearly a decade.  

The former F.N. Burt building near Buffalo's Larkinville neighborhood officially reopened in February as 500 Seneca Street. Development partner Sam Savarino said adaptive reuse projects are challenging in the best of times.  

"The building had two strikes against it: being in the neighborhood it was in and the fact that it was contaminated. So without programs like the Brownfield Tax Credit program and, in the case of this building, the Historic Tax Credit program because it is a landmark building, without those types of programs it simply wouldn't happen," Savarino said.

...

For the entire article, see

http://news.wbfo.org/post/brownfield-nys-incentives-new-500-seneca-street

by Sarah Schneider, WESA Public Radio (Pittsburgh, PA)

Hazelwood's Almono site has its first a street - well, kind of.

Developers of the environmentally contaminated site, which is planned to become a hub for new housing, young workers and tech businesses, just got the money needed to finish its first infrastructure project. The three foundations that own the site, the Heinz Endowment, Richard King Mellon Foundation and Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation received a $9.5 million loan needed to finish the site's first completed street.

Part of the road is finished, but isn't completed. It's expected to be finished by March.

...

Though some have expressed fears that the Almono development will disenfranchise Hazelwood's existing population, Sonya Tilghman, executive director of the Hazelwood Initiative, said community groups are prioritizing a connection to the existing neighborhood. 

...

For the entire article, see

http://wesa.fm/post/almono-gets-street-and-its-first-major-pathway-development#stream/0

Take the time to learn more about BCONE Board members Wanda Monahan and Skelly Holmbeck, Advisory Council member Elizabeth Limbrick,  and Executive Director Sue Boyle by reading their profiles and checking out BCONE’s ad in the October 28, 2016 issue of the Mid Atlantic Real Estate (MARE) Journal, pages 19-22.  Congratulations to BCONE’s Executive Women in Business.

https://online.flippingbook.com/view/757847/

by Akiko Matsuda, Lower Hudson Journal News (NY)

The village Planning Board has approved a controversial plan to build a hotel and a restaurant on a contaminated former landfill site on Marbledale Road, but opponents pledged they would keep fighting.

"This is a travesty," said Rachel Zolottev, the head of Marbledale Road Environmental Coalition, after the board's 3-2 approval of the plan this week.  "We have over 2,700 members of the community who have asked for an environmental impact statement. How they could ignore all those people is an absolute shame."

Zolottev was referring to a petition that urged the board to conduct a full environmental assessment for the project, rescinding its "conditional negative declaration" under the state Environmental Quality Review Act.

...

Soil and groundwater samples from the site were found to be contaminated with a variety of hazardous chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

...

For the entire article, see

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/2016/10/20/tuckahoe-hotel-approved/92421310/

The Kroger Company and its wholly owned company, the Turkey Hill Dairy, are deeply committed to preserving Lancaster County’s farmland and open spaces. As such, rather than constructing a brand new building, the company chose to undertake an adaptive reuse project and rehabilitate a vacated building in Lancaster County’s Borough of Columbia for the new Turkey Hill Experience.

The site is the former Ashley & Bailey Silk Mill, which had been vacant for more than 25 years. With the assistance of Lancaster County’s US EPA Target Assessment Brownfield Grant monies administered by the Lancaster County Planning Commission, the property was methodically moved through the State’s Voluntary Cleanup Program (Act 2).

With Environmental Standards’ help, the property was evaluated and environmental conditions managed to demonstrate attainment of Act 2 remediation standards.

The Site is a former industrial property, which for nearly 100 years operated as a silk mill and a stove manufacturing facility - until 1989. Currently, the property is owned by Museum Partners, a limited partnership that managed the property redevelopment. On April 28, 2010, a Consent Order and Agreement (COA) was executed by and between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Department of Environmental Protection; Borough of Columbia; Columbia Economic Development Corporation; and Museum Partners, L.P. for the Site. Congruent to the 2010 COA, as the “Seller,” Columbia Borough was responsible for the demonstration of attainment of an Act 2 cleanup standard based on non-residential use assumptions. The Kroger Company, parent company of Turkey Hill, and the redevelopment group Museum Partners opened an agri-tourism museum, a convenience store, and a retail fuel dispensing station at the Site on June 10, 2011.

The Turkey Hill Experience includes 26,000 square feet of exhibits, dining areas, and retail space. The facility also features nine interactive exhibit areas that allow visitors to learn more about the dairy culture, the story of the Turkey Hill Dairy, and how the company’s top-selling ice cream and iced tea flavors are selected and created.

Exhibits also feature Lancaster County cultural highlights, including some history of the lower Susquehanna River Valley and the rural farming area surrounding Turkey Hill Dairy. Visitors can truly experience what it is like to be a Turkey Hill Dairy ice cream maker for a day, including the opportunity to develop his or her own ice cream flavor. There is an entrance fee to visit the main interactive exhibit area, but a portion of the exhibits are open to the public at no charge. The first floor of the Turkey Hill Experience features a large creamery, which serves the general community.

Turkey Hill Dairy expects 250,000 visitors to Lancaster County’s newest destination each year. The Turkey Hill Experience is designed by Boston Productions, the company that also designed The Hershey Story, Connecticut Science Center, and other top attractions throughout the United States.