Brownfield Redevelopment
The City of Racine has made the reuse and redevelopment of land a high priority. Development efforts, however, can sometimes encounter the challenge of potentially contaminated properties, which are commonly referred to as “brownfields”.
What are brownfields?
The
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines brownfields as “abandoned, idled, or under-utilized industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.” The term “brownfield” was first
used to distinguish developed land from unused suburban and rural land, referred to as “greenfield” sites.
Brownfields can include land or buildings containing asbestos, lead, arsenic, and other pollutants. This often includes former industrial and commercial operations like gas stations, dry cleaning facilities, foundries, landfills, etc.
As the EPA definition suggests, land reuse issues can often create challenges because of perceived – not actual – contamination. Most land in urban areas is well suited for redevelopment (because of the presence of existing infrastructure, etc.) and is not
contaminated. Even when land does face environmental contamination, it often can be redeveloped at a reasonable cost and in a timely manner.
The purpose of Racine’s Brownfields Initiative is to create jobs and generate tax revenues through industrial and neighborhood redevelopment on brownfield sites. The City of Racine has been very successful in leveraging funding from the United State Environmental Protection
Agency and State of Wisconsin agencies to help support brownfield redevelopment, in addition to local programs.
For more information regarding Brownfield redevelopment in Racine, please give us a call at (262) 636-9151.
