Brownfields Update for the Pacific Northwest

This month’s Alaska story was written by John Carnahan, Brownfields Coordinator, Alaska Department of Environment Conservation.

Brownfield planning begins with an understanding of a property’s economic potential, existing environmental conditions, and a vision for redevelopment. The State of Alaska has substantial properties, facilities and structures whose resources are not fully realized because environmental conditions prevent their safe use or leasing. Without timely assessment and upkeep, these assets can fall into a state of disrepair.

During the past five years, staff in the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s Reuse and Redevelopment (R&R) program has worked closely with urban and rural communities in the state to conduct assessments of properties important to community development. The DEC Brownfield Assessment (DBA) is a service of the R&R program, modeled on the EPA’s Targeted Brownfield Assessment program. Alaska residents are encouraged to request DBA services for state-owned sites in their communities.

DBA work performed on many abandoned and blighted properties in the public realm is funded through the federal State and Tribal Response program. However, state-owned problem properties that affect the communities in which they reside are not eligible for this assistance. DEC applies a similar prioritization model to justify state subsidy for assessments and cleanups on sites for which its agencies are responsible. These are generally properties that the state either owns or has owned in the past.

The types of sites identified through this process include tank farms and fuel distribution centers, abandoned dumps, airport lease lots, former military sites, airport hangars and other structures, old, often Bureau of Indian Affairs schools, and housing and administrative buildings that supported them. These buildings often served as community centers and are important to future development.

The state may not have caused the contamination at some of these “Brownfield” sites, but the responsible party may not exist or be capable of taking action. Without action by the state, the site will continue to blight the community and pose an environmental threat, as well as prevent beneficial reuse or revitalization. Moreover, even if the state is not responsible for the contamination, at a state-owned site, it may still be liable for any environmental risks.

Developable land and building sites are at a premium in remote Alaska.  Moreover, most small communities eligible for assistance from this state program are not connected by roads.  Weather permitting, equipment and materials must be barged or flown in. The costs of installing the necessary infrastructure, water and sewer, are far greater than in rural communities elsewhere n the country. As the state often provides substantial funding to communities for these purposes, any program to recycle infrastructure is financially and environmentally important.

DEC’s R&R program coordinates with communities and other state agencies to identify candidate properties and use state resources to quantify the environmental concerns and ensure that the community is not at risk. This state involvement extends the federal program considerably.

Some of the potential benefits to the state and the communities include:

• Increased state revenues through new leases of revitalized properties
• New jobs by increasing local business development opportunities
• Decreased sprawl and greenspace depletion
• Reduced state liability for environmental conditions on state-owned properties
• Increased adjacent property values

Over the past five years, the level of state funding of R&R projects has been about 10 percent of the annual budget for assessments and cleanup on state-owned sites, exceeding $1 million since the program’s inception. This program is expected to expand.

DEC Brownfield Assessment Request Period Now Open

DEC’s DBA request period is now open, and will close on February 19, 2010. To download the request form and program fact sheet, visit DEC’s R&R website at: http://www.dec.state.ak.us/spar/csp/brownfields.htm. To request a form via fax or U.S. mail, or for more information, email Sonja.Benson@alaska.gov or call Sonja at (907) 451-2156.