The many faces of brownfields
Brownfields are like snowflakes. Although the causes and methods cleanup might be similar, no two projects are alike. A brownfields project can be rural or urban, it can impact wildlife, vary drastically in size and complexity, and even affect a Native people’s way of life.
Small-scale projects have big time impacts
In a town where the population is less than a thousand, a brownfield project often has a larger-than-life identity. Community awareness means every single resident knows about it. Such a redevelopment can also have a bigger financial impact on a small town than a larger one.
In eastern Washington, when town leaders of Rosalia scanned the horizon for a way to ignite tourism, they saw opportunity in the redevelopment of a former gas station.
With the help of USTfields Initiative funds and other EPA support, the quaint, old building was transformed from a blemish in the town’s major intersection to a focal point and tourist attraction: The abandoned, run-down gas station is now the Rosalia Visitor Resource & Interpretive Center.
Urban projects often involve more individuals, more regulations and more groups. Seattle’s Rainier Court project is a classic example of the complexity that results from multiple property owners, patchwork funding, numerous stakeholders and a diverse community. Although the 7-acre project is now well underway, it took years to get the redevelopment started. When complete, Rainier Court will provide much needed affordable senior and family housing to one of Seattle’s lower income neighborhoods.
In central Idaho, close to the town of Challis along the Salmon River, the Bayhorse Historic Mining District is being assessed by EPA and Idaho’s Department of Environmental Quality. Scattered over 500 acres, the contaminated land might be converted into an historic park. On the other hand, the American Linen Property in downtown Boise is a dramatically smaller project in comparison: A former industrial building that takes up less than a block is being converted into an urban cultural hotspot.
Redevelopment for wildlife and native peoples
Though brownfields can differ in terms of community context and size, all redevelopment projects share a common goal: to improve the quality of life. Sometimes that means wildlife. In Rosalia’s brownfield project, for example, the Wildlife Habitat Council collaborated on restoration of the site to ensure the project met the needs of wildlife as well as people. As a result, Rosalia incorporated native landscaping and wildlife habitat into the redevelopment plans.
Brownfields can even impact subsistence. In the hinterlands of western Washington, a tribe’s shellfish diet was threatened by contamination. The Jamestown S’Klallam tribe was already at work trying to restore the estuary that was causing flood hazards and contaminating shellfish beds. With EPA assistance, they were able to restore the safety of their food supply by removing contaminated pilings from the intertidal area.
Preventing contamination of a food supply was also the goal after an oil spill in the northwest corner of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. When the Makah tribe lacked the staff and resources to respond, an EPA grant allowed them to mobilize.
Brownfields come in many different sizes, shapes, complexities and types. And every single one is worth the effort, resulting as they do in cleaner environments, revitalized urban areas, new open spaces, and safe food and water supplies.
For more about successful brownfields projects in Region 10, go to http://www.nwbrownfields-update.com/archive/.
