Before the days of environmental protection agencies, toxic chemicals were often considered out of mind so long as they were out of sight.
Years later, states throughout the nation are facing areas large and small with either known or potential health hazard risks in the soil itself. To combat these areas, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is teaming up with state governments, charities and other organizations to turn these "brownfields" into viable spaces for living and working.
In the 2012 fiscal year alone, the EPA reports that more than 850 cleanups were completed along with over 20,000 site assessments. In all, the year saw the transformation of an estimated 40,000 acres.
In addition to environmental benefits, the EPA estimates that once a brownfield is treated, overall property values within a one mile radius are liable to increase by as much as $500,000 to $1.5 million. In all, nearly 90,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy as a result of brownfield cleanup initiatives.
One state leading the way is Oregon, who has made use of the EPA's Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) grants, which provide geographically-based technical assistance and free training to communities and other brownfield stakeholders in treatment and revitalization.
Furthermore, the state has leveraged nearly $38 million of funding through the sale of long-term bonds to clean up "orphan sites," or sites where the party responsible for contamination has gone out of business or is too small to afford the cleanup. In other cases, orphan sites include areas where the source of contamination is unknown.
A popular story among Portland's residents is the transformation of Tabor Commons from 2004 to 2010.
The small plot of land located across from an elementary school functioned as a service station from 1928 until 1987, including a Drive Thru and Wake Up coffee shop. After it went out of business, the vacant lot quickly fell into the hands of drug traffickers, according to the U.S. Marshall Service. Together, leaders and community members, including a team of graduate students from the nearby Portland State University's Master of Urban and Regional Planning program, worked together to not only treat the contaminated soil, but turn the old building into a small library complete with environmental education and adult language programs.
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