Emily Spokowski - OnEarth Magazine, from NRDC

Where's Your Local Brownfield?

Do you want to know how close your home is to polluted land? Are you aware of contaminated property nearby and would like to inform your neighborhood? If you live in New York City, this can all be done using the website www.habitatmap.org . HabitatMap is an NYC based environmental health justice organization focused on making our neighborhoods cleaner, safer, and more sustainable. HabitatMap is a social networking website that takes advantage of community based knowledge to alert the public of environmental health hazards, such as contaminated land known as brownfields. A brownfield is a property featuring some amount of pollution due to previous development. Gas stations, dry cleaners, and factories are all common sources of toxic chemicals and pollution. Not only does HabitatMap seek to alert the NYC community of local contamination, it also aims to hold companies accountable for their environmental impacts as well as promote cleanup ...read full post

Comments (0) | November 15, 2009
Raising Brownfield Awareness

Information regarding brownfields is very limited compared to that available on other environmental issues such as sustainability, natural resources management, wildlife protection, or pollution, but is in fact is a major issue and is related to these important topics. The word “brownfield” is not widely known; few people have ever heard the term before. A brownfield is a plot of land presumed to contain some amount of pollution due to previous development. Properties hosting gas stations, drycleaners, or factories often become brownfield sites. Toxic chemicals from these and other businesses contaminate soil and eventually enter local ground water systems. Abandoned brownfield sites create unsafe properties, pollute the environment, contaminate water, economically depress their local neighborhood, and contribute to urban sprawl.

Most people are not aware that brownfields are so common. The public needs to become educated on brownfields and on the environmental ...read full post

Comments (0) | November 9, 2009
Brownfield Action: A Unique Environmental Teaching Tool

Peter Bower, senior lecturer at Barnard College, developed a revolutionary computer-based teaching program known as Brownfield Action in collaboration with Columbia University’s Center for New Media Teaching and Learning in 1999. The program educates college students about pollution and how it can affect our communities. A brownfield is a plot of land that may feature some amount of contamination due to previous development. Gas stations, dry cleaners, and factories are common brownfield sites. Chemicals found on these properties can seep into groundwater systems and contaminate local drinking water supplies.

With a background in toxicity, Bower was attracted to teaching students about brownfields. In the computer simulation, students become detectives. They investigate the source of water contamination in the program’s virtual town. The simulation shows how pollution can impact an entire city and the importance of preventing this. I recently sat down with ...read full post

Comments (0) | November 3, 2009
Creating Awareness through Education

Education is a key component to creating an environmentally aware society. Environmental science is a relatively new field; only within the past few decades have colleges and universities in the United States developed environmental science departments. Few elementary, middle, or high schools treat environmental studies as a core subject, if it is taught at all. As a result, students have a lacking knowledge of the environment and the ways in which humans impact it. This is slowly changing.

Peter Bower, senior lecturer at Barnard College, has been a leader in environmental education. He has been teaching students about the impacts of environmental contamination through a computer-based simulation known as Brownfield Action. Bower collaborated on the development of this program with Columbia University’s Center for New Media Teaching and Learning in 1999. Brownfield Action has been a big success in creating awareness and changing attitudes in regard to the environment ...read full post

Comments (0) | October 28, 2009
At the End of an Era, a New One Approaches—As well as its Problems

Over the past few decades, manufacturing in the United States has shifted over seas as rising labor costs make outsourcing more appealing to American companies and consumers. As a result, more and more old factory buildings have been abandoned, leaving economically depressed, ghost-town neighborhoods in their wake. These abandoned properties are known as brownfields and often contain some level of pollution.

Noticing the ever increasing number of stagnant factories, in 1980 Congress passed legislation declaring property owners responsible for the cleanup of contamination on their land. This was one of the initial steps made towards brownfield cleanup programs in our country. In 1988 Minnesota was the first state to create a voluntary cleanup program. Many states followed suit, New York formed its own program in 1994. Other state and federal brownfield regulations have been developed over the past three decades in order to further the brownfield cleanup effort. Brownfield ...read full post

Comments (0) | October 26, 2009
Brownfields versus Greenfields

There are many issues to consider when selecting real estate for a new building project, one of which is whether to build on “old” land, a brownfield, or on “new” land, a greenfield. A brownfield is land that has been formerly developed but is no longer in use. This land may contain levels of contamination. A greenfield is defined as a plot of land that has not been previously developed. Examples include forests, wetlands, or open fields. Greenfields generally feature no significant amount of toxic materials.

There are pros and cons to building on both types of land. Because greenfields are in pristine condition, they are usually much cheaper to build on than brownfields. Greenfields require neither cleaning nor the removal of hazardous structures. Although greenfields are cheaper, they come at a price for the environment. Developing new land contributes to urban sprawl and can lead to deforestation, the destruction of natural habitats, increases in greenhouse ...read full post

Comments (0) | October 18, 2009
New Beginnings: Giving Land a Second Chance

The word brownfield is an important term in this age of environmental awareness and conservation that many may not be familiar with. A brownfield is a plot of land previously utilized for industrial or commercial purposes that is now no longer in use and contains varying amounts of pollution. This contamination can result in significant environmental damage as well as human health problems. Improperly disposed of toxic chemicals can seep through soil and into our ground water systems, eventually making their way into our drinking water. Not only do these sites pollute our land, brownfields remain as useless eyesores to local communities.

So much can be gained through brownfield cleanup programs. Our environment becomes safer and healthier as previously undesirable land can be made beneficial to a community. Cleaned land can be used for anything from new residential or business locations to public parks local residents can enjoy.

New York City is currently doing ...read full post

Comments (0) | October 11, 2009