After decades of remediation of contaminated properties funded by the federal Superfund program, some important lessons have emerged for reusing these sites.
Involving the local community and creating a vision for reuse early in the cleanup process is vital. It’s also critical to perform the right level of remediation for the intended use.
For example, a site intended for a new school or residential development needs more thorough cleanup than one meant for a new parking lot. Solar energy generation has become a popular choice for reuse, as this option takes land that was out of use instead of more valuable farmland or forestland.
Based on EPA analysis of 487 of the 888 Superfund sites in reuse, there were about 6,600 businesses in 2017 located on remediated properties. Their operations employed more than 156,000 people and generated annual sales of $43.6 billion.
Related Stories
Codes and Standards | Jul 7, 2021
Bechtel, Nautilus partner on sustainable, high-performance data centers
Facilities would use 70% less power for cooling, eliminate consumption of drinking water.
Codes and Standards | Jul 7, 2021
Surfside condo collapse could spur new legislation
Natl. Institute of Standards and Technology is investigating.
Codes and Standards | Jul 7, 2021
Intl. Code Council appoints committees to lead energy code development
One-third of appointees are government regulators.
Codes and Standards | Jul 1, 2021
COVID-19 made payment delays to contractors much worse
Only one in ten companies is always getting paid in full.
Codes and Standards | Jun 30, 2021
New resource for public sector organizations to develop energy data management program
Dept. of Energy document contains more than 30 examples of successful implementations.
Codes and Standards | Jun 29, 2021
Biden China policy may spur more increased U.S. PV manufacturing capacity
Senate bill proposes advanced solar manufacturing production credit.
Codes and Standards | Jun 28, 2021
Local and state building energy performance standards aim to curb climate change
Owners must up the ante on operations and retrofits.
Codes and Standards | Jun 24, 2021
Biden Administration will restore ‘Waters of the U.S.’ protections ended by Trump
Early revision more likely to hold up in court, says legal expert.
Codes and Standards | Jun 23, 2021
Denver unveils renewable heating and cooling plan
City releases roadmap to decarbonizing existing homes and buildings.
Codes and Standards | Jun 22, 2021
Actually, few companies plan to significantly reduce their office footprint
CBRE survey shows that many firms will continue with hybrid work.