NDA CONVENTION: Gold in the Brownfields

A public-private partnership is quickening the pace of brownfields redevelopment, although changes in funding and timelines could prove even more helpful.

Two presenters at a National Demolition Association (NDA) session updated attendees on the rapid changes taking place in the brownfields redevelopment sector.

Sven Erik-Kaiser of the U.S. EPA noted that some $7.5 billion has already been spent to convert abandoned brownfield sites into new industrial, commercial or residential developments.

Kaiser said some 50,000 such sites have been or are in the process of being developed, but that some 400,000 to 950,000 others await attention.

He urged demolition contractors to stay in touch with federal, state and local brownfield opportunities, and not to be discouraged by what have been some very slow timetables in the early stages of brownfields redevelopment.

Kaiser also remarked that although the word “demolition” does not appear in the federal 2002 Brownfields Act, demolition is “considered to be an intrinsic part of and inseparable from clean-up” in the brownfields sector.

“It is an area of the law that needs some work,” he conceded. “There is no doubt it needs clarifying.”

Because of the way the law reads, grants and funding often do not cover the demolition portions of a brownfields project.

Among those trying to correct this oversight is Robert Colangelo, founder and CEO of the National Brownfield Association (NBA), Chicago.

The NBA has grown in just seven years to include more than 1,000 developers, property owners, contractors and government agencies as members.

Colangelo says brownfield sites can be identified as “dilapidated, tired, underused or abandoned properties, some of which are highly contaminated.”

Brownfield redevelopment has gained momentum thanks to the 2002 federal law as well as actions by the insurance and financing industries to meet the needs of such projects. Also helping, said Colangelo, is a “cultural change in government [from] enforcer to partner.”

Barriers remain at properties highly contaminated with asbestos, PCBs or even lead-based paint, but Colangelo said contractors who can offer developers the full range of services including abatement, remediation and demolition are well positioned to be involved in the brownfields boom.

The NDA’s Annual Convention took place at the Gaylord Opryland complex in Nashville in late March.