Rhode Island Residents See New Landscape From Brownsfield Redevelopment
WASHINGTON, Jan. 31–Rhode Island will receive up to $4 million in the next four years under a new law sponsored by U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) to clean up so-called brownfields sites badly polluted by hazardous chemicals.
The federal funds are to be used to restore and redevelop brownfield sites extending from Washington County through Providence.
“Whether it’s office buildings, shopping-type establishments, restaurants or green spaces, the brownfields bill is a victory for the environment and a value to the community,” Chafee said.
The Brownfields Revitalization and Environment Restoration Act, which Senators Bob Smith (R-N.H.), Harry Reid (D-N.V.) and Barbara Boxer (D-C.A.) sponsored along with Chafee-and which President George W. Bush signed on Jan. 11, authorizes $250 million a year for the fiscal years 2002-2006 to clean up polluted brownfield areas around the nation.
The new law provides funds to assess and clean up abandoned and underused brownfield sites, legal protection for property owners and money to augment state cleanup programs. It will also create a public record of brownfield sites and increase community involvement in site cleanup and reuse.
Brownfields are abandoned industrial or commercial properties where redevelopment and remediation have been delayed by environmental contamination and potential liability under the Superfund law, which holds prospective property owners liable for environmental hazards.
In Rhode Island, most brownfield properties were old mill sites located on the water. Their locations open doors to a host of community activities, but potential buyers are apprehensive about the potential liability associated with buying and restoring a site that may be polluted. The brownfields law places Superfund liability with the landowners.
The cleanup and redevelopment of these old industrial properties, including more than 60 sites already identified in Rhode Island, is intended to create new jobs, clean up the environment and protect small businesses from lawsuits.
“The brownfields bill is a very positive thing for the state, and it will help the economy. Most importantly, it will give people a place to live,” said Susan Arnold, the chief executive officer of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. “Currently, these sites are a blight on the urban core, and no one would want to live on them. Once they’ve been redeveloped it will be better for the economy and produce more affordable housing.”
The money allocated to the state for brownfields revitalization “can’t help but be a positive thing for the Rhode Island economy,” she added, “This bill will allow the properties to get back on the tax roles, reduce hangouts for criminal activity and will help utilize the finite number of environmental resources we have in Rhode Island.”
In the late 1980s, the North Central Industrial Parks in Lincoln, occupied by approximately 20 businesses, were filled with tall buildings, green trees and buyers eager to get a piece of the land. The buyers, however, were unaware of high levels of chemical contamination that threatened the lining of the buildings, hazardous chemicals that were polluting the water and the prospect of out-of-pocket expenses that they, as property owners, would have to incur, including legal fees, to ensure the safety of area residents. Years later, the North Central Industrial Parks were labeled an environmental and health hazard.
“This is a success story because there was zero activity in the park. And then in the early nineties we did four deals within a few years, and the activity in the park increased,” said Michael Giuttari, president of NAI MG Commercial Real Estate Services in Providence. “The park now has no available lots or vacancy.”
Because of brownfield liability concerns, valuable property is sitting idle and providing nothing to a city’s tax rolls and might also encourage crime, Chafee said. “I know that the city managers and mayors around the country are very happy because anytime you have an abandoned site it’s not generating property taxes,” he said. “And when you put a building on an abandoned site — depending on the value of that building — that generates revenue to the community.”
The Rhode Island brownfield sites currently being assessed for redevelopment are important in strengthening Rhode Island’s economic status, those involved in redevelopment say.
“There are a lot of positives to that,” Chafee said. “Here sits this old burnt-out laundry building that sits at the gateway to the community, and what a scare it is to look at. So maybe the cost of living is lower, but no one wants it.”
Because of the attractive nature of the new law, potential buyers are starting to take notice, particularly of the ability to get financing, Giuttari said.
“What we deal with are existing buildings that have environmental problems. We need to define the problem, put a remediation plan in place, get covenant not to sue and then put a brownfield mark in place and begin financing,” he said “What really needs to be done is to specifically define the environmental problems for the buyers. The buyer of the building then redevelops, tears down or starts from scratch with the building in an effort to produce a better park that has no available lots or vacancy.”
The Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. has set up a revolving loan program for hazardous sites, which the federal Environmental Protection Agency has called a “model for the nation.”
The YMCA of Greater Providence and Save the Bay became the first recipients of the revolving loan fund in December.
“Our goal with the brownfields loan is to get people out on Narragansett Bay,” said Marvin Ronning, Save the Bay’s director of project planning and administration. “Save the Bay is exploring a camp for educational programming infrastructure, and we are building a new educational facility and new vessel at Fields Point.”
Fields Point, a bathing area before it was developed as a shipyard and, in part, as a construction dump, will be reclaimed with six acres of parcel property where a new education facility and habitat restoration project will be built and bay-friendly practices will be demonstrated, Ronning said.
“The brownfield loan specifically helps make the area safe, which is the remediation process, and helps in the building of the site,” he said. “We are excited about the site because of its beautiful location and close proximity to Providence as an urban core. We are turning back to the community what was historically public access, and everyone recognizes the public value of this.”
Written for The New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
