The Benefits to Cleaning Up Brownfield Sites

The cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield sites can boost the economy, raising property values and stimulating job growth, according to Pollution Engineering.

And in addition to EPA funding and technical assistance, federal funding through the Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act can help subsidize the cost of cleaning up these sites.

The publication points to Papa John’s Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky, the site of former 92-acre railroad repair yard contaminated with chemicals and petroleum. One hundred cubic yards of soil were contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and 47 constituents were addressed, including lead, arsenic and chromium.

The initial estimate put the cleanup at $40 million; the final remediation cost just under $7 million following a risk assessment and the implementation of a cleanup and containment plan.