DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE 
CONTEXT
WHERE/WHEN APPLICABLE
RESPONSES
TESTIMONIES

DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE:
Imagine a long-vacant lot near the center of a neighborhood commercial district. Once a car repair shop with a couple of underground storage tanks, today the lot is strewn with trash. Weeds poke out of cracks in the pavement. Broken TV sets and a torn, wet mattress lie in the corner. Over the years, oil from the underground tanks has leaked out, contaminated the soil and perhaps percolated into the groundwater. No one knows how much it might cost to clean up, but the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) requires responsible parties to address hazardous soil and water contamination before redevelopment takes place. Local CDCs and the city government have the funds necessary to redevelop the area, but they cannot afford the risk of costly environmental remediation. The land languishes -- a dumping ground and a source of blight in the midst of struggling local bakeries, grocers, and hair salons.

Like many environmental issues, "brownfields" have widespread economic and social repercussions in urban neighborhoods. In 1999, according to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, more than 600 such brownfields lay awaiting cleanup and adaptive reuse in Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, Roslindale, and Jamaica Plain.

Jurisdiction over the mandatory cleanup of brownfield sites is regulated by both state and federal legislation. Potential developers and public agencies may not have the money necessary for a long, costly cleanup. Rather than reuse a contaminated site, developers are likely to seek out undeveloped "greenfields" on which to build, contributing to sprawl and the decline of urban centers.

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CONTEXT:
Although a great deal of progress has been made at the state level, there are still an estimated 6,100 brownfield properties in Massachusetts that must be rid of contaminants (Davis Bushnell, "Law is clearing former polluted sites for reuse," The Boston Globe, Jan. 31, 2002). But in Greater Boston, the fear of environmental contamination is a major roadblock to urban redevelopment (Metropolitan Area Planning Council, 1992).

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WHERE/ WHEN APPLICABLE:
In 2004, according to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, there were 105 brownfield sites in Jamaica Plain, 66 in Mattapan, 373 in Dorchester, 76 in Roslindale, and 261 in Roxbury (not all of which fell within the Heart of the City). For most of these sites, oil was the primary contaminant (Boston Indicators of Change and Sustainability, 2000).

Prominent brownfield sites in the Heart of the City:
Properties in Egleston Square:
As of fall 2002, Urban Edge Housing Corporation is firming up plans to redevelop a brownfield site on 3033 Washington St. The site was previously an auto repair business and is now contaminated. Urban Edge was able to leverage approximately $350,000 from MassDevelopment for environmental assessments (Davis Bushnell, "Law is clearing former polluted sites for reuse," The Boston Globe, Jan. 31, 2002).

In 2005, the Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN) and Urban Edge jointly purchased the former MBTA electrical substation in Egleston Square on Washington Street. BNN, the city's cable access television operation, will situate its offices and studios in the building. Urban Edge has undertaken the cleanup and renovations, to be completed in the fall of 2007. BNN is pleased to have a centralized location in the middle of the city for its cable access operation to help further establish its identity. (Robert Preer, "Putting the power back on: Site to hum with TV studios," The Boston Globe, October 2, 2005)

Mildred Avenue in Mattapan:
Contaminants in the area where the new Mattapan Middle School was built and opened in 2003 included asbestos, lead paint, underground storage tanks, drums containing chemicals, and possibly PCBs (Steve Marantz, "Report lists site contaminants at proposed Mattapan school lot," The Boston Herald, Jan. 13, 2000). These materials can be particularly hazardous to young people if they area not properly mediated. A high standard for remediation of environmental contamination is required in light of the type of reuse.

Arborway Yard:
As of March 2003, sections of the Arborway Yard just north of the Forest Hills MBTA Station are mildly contaminated. The MBTA plans to remediate the contaminated areas when it redevelops the site for a new bus facility and community uses.

Grove Hall Mecca Mall:
In 1960, the land around what is now the Mecca Mall was used for industry, as well as commercial activity, and included extensive vacant land. Oil and gas were used and sold on the site and kept in underground storage tanks that remained on the site. After the infamous race riots in Grove Hall in 1967, the City foreclosed on the property and the buildings were demolished. The site was vacant and contaminated for more than three decades. The area was almost completely barren and a significant blight on the neighborhood.

Then in 1997, the City hired an environmental engineering firm, Ambient Engineering, to clean up the site for reuse. Ambient found that multiple underground tanks had released petroleum into the soil and significantly impacted the groundwater. They removed and recycled the contaminated soil, removed 11 gasoline tanks, and shipped the contaminated water away from the site. After their work was completed, there were no limitations to how the area could be used (Ambient Engineering).

MBTA Substation at Roslindale Village:
In 1998, Roslindale residents and business owners formed a task force to pursue the redevelopment of a high profile brownfield in the midst of Roslindale Village. The brownfield -- a three story sub-station built in 1911 -- has been vacant for more than 30 years. The MBTA used the building as a power station for the trolley line that ran through the area until about 1965. It has been vacant since that time and is considered part of the Roslindale Square historic district. The Roslindale task force, with major assistance from Roslindale Village Main Streets, sought state funding for redevelopment, pursued an online marketing scheme to attract interest in the building as an historic property, and hired a consultant to complete a feasibility study for redevelopment. The MBTA, which owns the property, subsequently put out an invitation for bids on the property. It received seven bids and selected the highest bidder to purchase the property. Community members who had invested in a feasibility study for the redevelopment of the building were disturbed to learn that the highest bidder had no plan for the redevelopment of the property, nor had he visited the building or seen the new feasibility study (Tom Litke, director of Roslindale Village Main Street).

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RESPONSES:
-- On the state level, MassDevelopment oversees a $30 million brownfield redevelopment fund. In 1998, Governor Cellucci signed the "Brownfields Act," which created financial incentives for cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties in Massachusetts. The state also runs an Environmental Justice and Brownfields program, a Brownfields Redevelopment Access to Capital program, a Brownfields Covenant Not to Sue Program, and a Brownfields Tax Credit.

-- In the mid-1990s, the City of Boston applied for and acquired $200,000 in grant money to be used over a period of two years through its "Boston Brownfields Partnership Task Force" (Portman, Michelle. Local and State Perspectives on Brownfields in Massachusetts). The City initiated a program to encourage the redevelopment of brownfields by private industries in the Dudley Street neighborhood of Roxbury. The program could be expanded to include other areas of Roxbury or other Boston neighborhoods.

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TESTIMONIES:
"There are thousands of brownfields in Massachusetts alone: old gas stations with leaky tanks, paint factories, old schools with asbestos. Our conclusion was, the only way to get these sites cleaned up is to bring market forces to bear, to get into the role of being, or helping, responsible developers to bring these sites back. And if you don't do that, these neighborhoods are going to be doomed to live with these things forever"
(Douglas Foy, former director of the Conservation Law Foundation; in 2003, the Chief of Commonwealth Development, from an article by David Mehegan, "The evolution of Douglas Foy Boston's power environmentalist now thinks good cities are the key to saving the countryside," The Boston Globe, Mar. 25, 2001).

"[The Arborway Yard} is an industrial site. We think of it as a nothing, as polluted, as not precious. But it is precious. It is every bit as precious as the land around Back Bay Station. This is a chance to get rid of the blight" (Gail Sullivan, local architect and member of the Design Review Committee for the Arborway Yard, June 5, 2002).

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