Industrial Brownfields Research Articles

From Planning to Smart Management of Historic Industrial Brownfield Regeneration

Development of urban systems is permanent process of its adaptation for the realization of dynamically changing human activities and of responses to external disturbances resulting in the changes in urban functional and spatial structure. These changes can be seen as the permanent innovations in urban socio-ecosystems reacting dominantly on innovations in the production sectors, as initiating phenomenon. In many cases the internal power driving permanent innovation process in urban structures absents and external intervention is needed to re-start the natural processes of permanent adaptive transformation and safeguarding their sustainability [1]. Especially historic industrial brownfield are facing the problems of degradation, underuse, free-riders or conflicts between actors [2]. Their management process, including planning, reflects social dilemmas being confronted with the real or seemingly contradictions between individual and collective interests on fictional and other parameters of urban structure. The main objective of the paper is to demonstrate the potential of new conceptual framework to improve the processes of brownfield regeneration and to develop efficient and sustainable management strategies under existing complexity, multiple actors and levels in the decision making.

Assessing the impact of the remedial actions taken at a contaminated Italian site: an ex-post valuation analysis

The remediation and reuse of industrial brownfields sites offers important opportunities for the improvement of urban quality of life. The aim of this paper is to estimate the primary costs and benefits of different cleanup projects implemented in Venice Porto Marghera, Italy. The industrial area of Porto Marghera is one of the most notorious contaminated sites of national interest in Italy; at this site, vacant and polluted areas coexist, posing several problems for the local government and community. However, this site also represents one of the primary strategic areas for the future development and the economic renaissance of the entire Veneto Region. In fact, the area is located in the heart of the northeast, close to the main transport networks, and it is provided with a full range of urban services and infrastructure. The area for the national priority list site of Porto Marghera extends over 3,500 ha, and in the last 10 years, different cleanup interventions have been implemented to rehabilitate the area under various regulatory systems. However, only a small number of these interventions can be considered to be completed or have been certified by law. This paper performs a retrospective cost–benefit analysis of these case studies to provide information for potential regulatory modifications, insights and knowledge for methodological improvements in prospective economic assessments and information for local and central governments to use in implementing the remaining remediation activities.

Transformation of an Industrial Brownfield into an Ecological Buffer for Michigan’s Only Ramsar Wetland of International Importance

The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge spans 77 km along the Detroit River and western Lake Erie, and is the only unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System that is international. A key unit of the refuge is the 166-ha Humbug Marsh that represents the last kilometer of natural shoreline on the U.S. mainland of the river and Michigan’s only “Wetland of International Importance” designated under the 1971 International Ramsar Convention. Adjacent to Humbug Marsh is an 18-ha former industrial manufacturing site (now called the Refuge Gateway) that is being remediated and restored as an ecological buffer for Humbug Marsh and the future home of the refuge’s visitor center. Restoration and redevelopment activities have included: cleanup and capping of contaminated lands; daylighting a creek (i.e., deliberately exposing the flow of a creek that was historically placed underground in a culvert) and constructing a retention pond and emergent wetland to treat storm water prior to discharge to the Detroit River; restoring coastal wetland, riparian buffer, and upland habitats; and constructing two roads, hiking/biking trails, and a kayak/canoe landing to offer wildlife-compatible public uses that allow visitors to experience this internationally-recognized natural resource. This project has been described as transformational for the region by restoring an industrial brownfield into high quality wildlife habitat that expands the ecological buffer of a Ramsar site. Specific restoration targets for the site include: achieving a net gain of 6.5 ha of wetlands in a river that has lost 97% of its coastal wetlands to development; restoring 10.1 ha of upland buffer habitat; treating invasive Phragmites along 4 km of shoreline; and treatment of invasive plant species in 20.2 ha of upland habitats in Humbug Marsh. Further, the Refuge Gateway is being restored as a model of environmental sustainability for nearly seven million residents within a 45-minute drive. Key lessons learned include: reach broad-based agreement on a sustainability vision; identify and involve a key champion; establish core project delivery team; ensure up-front involvement of regulatory agencies; recruit and meaningfully involve many partners; expect the unexpected; practice adaptive management; place a priority on sound science-based decision making; ensure decision-making transparency; measure and celebrate successes, including benefits; and place a high priority on education and outreach.

Suitability of an organic residual cover on tailings for bioenergy crop production: A preliminary assessment

Hargreaves, J., Lock, A., Beckett, P., Spiers, G. A., Tisch, B, Lanteigne, L., Posadowski, T. and Soenens, M. 2012. Suitability of an organic residual cover on tailings for bioenergy crop production: A preliminary assessment. Can. J. Soil Sci. 92: 203–211. To test the potential for production of bioenergy crops, such as canola and corn, an organic cover was constructed over acid-producing mine tailings containing nickel and copper, belonging to Vale in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The 1 m deep cover was of organic residuals (biosolids) obtained from a regional paper mill. Corn and canola crops were successfully grown using agricultural techniques. Crop yields from each of 2 yr from the tailings site were greater than those obtained at an agricultural site in the region. Root, shoot and grain analyses indicated low potential for bioaccumulation of potentially hazardous metals from the organic residual cover or the underlying tailings. Over the short term, there was no evidence of metal movement into the biosolids cover or uptake by the crops from the underlying tailing deposits. Importantly, canola seeds and corn kernels, the feedstocks for biodiesel and ethanol biofuels production, did not accumulate environmentally sensitive metals. This preliminary study demonstrates that the placement of an organic residuals cover on mine tailings to support growth of bioenergy crops is a potential novel reclamation strategy for the mining and smelting industry, or for industrial brownfields in general.

Knowledge About, Importance of, and Attitudes Towards Industrial Brownfield Re-use

The aim of this paper is to investigate people's attitudes towards and knowledge about the remediation and re-use of brownfield sites. In order to understand people's opinions, we administered a questionnaire to 400 residents in the surroundings of Venice. We applied factor analysis to gain better understanding of the structure underlying the respondents' answers to a set of Likert-scale questions on the possible effects of redeveloping abandoned and contaminated sites. We also conducted a multivariate stepwise regression analysis to define the social structure variables that can best explain people's attitudes towards environmental issues. Results show that people are mostly motivated by environmental considerations when asked about brownfields reuse.

Efficiency modeling of solidification/stabilization of multi-metal contaminated industrial soil using cement and additives

In a laboratory study, formulations of 15% (w/w) of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), calcium aluminate cement (CAC) and pozzolanic cement (PC) and additives: plasticizers cementol delta ekstra (PCDE) and cementol antikorodin (PCA), polypropylene fibers (PPF), polyoxyethylene-sorbitan monooleate (Tween 80) and aqueous acrylic polymer dispersion (Akrimal) were used for solidification/stabilization (S/S) of soils from an industrial brownfield contaminated with up to 157, 32,175, 44,074, 7614, 253 and 7085 mg kg −1 of Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni and As, respectively. Soils formed solid monoliths with all cementitious formulations tested, with a maximum mechanical strength of 12 N mm −2 achieved after S/S with CAC + PCA. To assess the S/S efficiency of the used formulations for multi-element contaminated soils, we propose an empirical model in which data on equilibrium leaching of toxic elements into deionized water and TCLP (toxicity characteristic leaching procedure) solution and the mass transfer of elements from soil monoliths were weighed against the relative potential hazard of the particular toxic element. Based on the model calculation, the most efficient S/S formulation was CAC + Akrimal, which reduced soil leachability of Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni and As into deionized water below the limit of quantification and into TCLP solution by up to 55, 185, 8750, 214, 4.7 and 1.2-times, respectively; and the mass transfer of elements from soil monoliths by up to 740, 746, 104,000, 4.7, 343 and 181-times, respectively.

Europe's City Beaches as Post-Fordist Placemaking

City beaches are produced by spreading sand, deckchairs and umbrellas onto industrial brownfields, parking lots, rights-of-way or other under-utilized open spaces. Where major reinvestment projects are lacking, these informal developments offer great amenity. This approach to placemaking is post-Fordist. It is highly flexible, even mobile. It involves complex, temporary networks of people and resources. It focuses on ‘soft’ content—services, programmes, themes, atmosphere—rather than inflexible built form. This enables rapid innovation. Through four case studies, the paper explores the roles and relationships among diverse actors—city mayors, entrepreneurs, property developers, grass-roots organizations, think-tanks and planners—in the production of city beaches, and identifies what new policies, tools and management approaches they require.

Bonifica, recupero e valorizzazione delle aree industriali dismesse e contaminate: percezioni e preferenze dei cittadini

- The aim of this paper is to investigate people's perception and preference for the remediation and reuse of industrial brownfields sites. Other main objectives are to investigate if people know about abandoned and contaminated sites and if they understand the potential beneficial effects deriving from cleanup and reuse of these sites. Moreover we want to understand if people perceive soil and water contamination and if they consider themselves exposed to environmental risks caused by contaminated sites. Do they support remediation and reuse initiatives? What are their preferred reuse options? Method and Results In order to understand people's opinions we have administered a questionnaire to the residents in the surroundings of Venice. The questionnaire was selfadministered by the respondents using computers and we collected 400 questionnaires. Conclusions We find that people are very familiar with the problem of contaminated and abandoned sites and they are mainly worried about the effects of contamination on human health and on the general environment. Furthermore, they strongly support future public reuse programs like green parks, cultural and other recreational facilities. They don't appreciate industrial and other productive reuse alternatives.JEL: Q53, R52, I18

Mapping Urban Revitalization: Using GIS Spatial Analysis to Evaluate a New Housing Policy

This longitudinal, multimethod study uses geographical information system (GIS) software to evaluate the community-wide impact of a neighborhood revitalization project. Unsystematic visual examination and analysis of GIS maps are offered as a complementary tool to quantitative analysis and one that is much more compelling, meaningful, and effective in presentation to community and nonscientific professional audiences. The centerpiece of the intervention was the development of a new, middle-class housing subdivision in an area that was declining physically and economically. This represents three major urban/housing policy directions: (1) the emphasis on home ownership for working-class families, (2) the deconcentration of poverty through development of mixed-income neighborhoods, and (3) the clean up and redevelopment of contaminated, former industrial brownfields. Resident survey responses, objective environmental assessment observations, and building permit data were collected, geocoded at the address level, and aggregated to the block level on 60 street blocks in the older neighborhoods surrounding the new housing in two waves: during site clearing and housing construction (Time 1: 1993–95) and three years post-completion (Time 2: 1998–99). Variables mapped include (a) Time 1–2 change in self-reported home repairs and improvements, (b) change in the assessed physical condition of yards and exteriors of 925 individual residential properties, (c) change in residents' home pride, and (d) a city archive of building permits at Time 2. Physical conditions improved overall in the neighborhood, but spatial analysis of the maps suggest that the spillover effects, if any, of the new housing were geographically limited and included unintended negative psychological consequences. Results argue for greater use of GIS and the street block level in community research and of psychological and behavioral variables in planning research and decisions.

Tracking Industrial Land Use Conversions

Research on urban development and environmental hazards has focused attention on problems associated with current industrial facilities, derelict industrial brownfields, and government-listed hazardous waste sites. Yet we continue to know very little about environmental contaminants remaining on past industrial sites that have since converted to other uses. This article develops a methodology for examining the prevalence of such sites and their historical conversion and then presents an illustrative case study of this methodology for New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1955 to 2006. Contrary to expectations, results show that most sites occupied by polluting industries in the past have since converted to other uses and that this conversion is most common in predominantly White neighborhoods. These findings extend and complicate extant research on urban industrial hazards and environmental justice, calling attention to the potential accumulation of historically generated contaminants not just in identifiable brownfields and lingering industrial corridors but also in neighborhoods throughout older cities.

Private Initiative and Public Responsibility for the Redevelopment of Industrial Brownfields: Three Baltimore Case Studies

This article examines three case studies of brownfield redevelopment in Baltimore, Maryland, to refine understanding of the boundary between privately and publicly initiated brownfield redevelopments. The cases range from Camden Crossing, a city- initiated project that promised to turn an abandoned and contaminated site into middle-income housing, to Crown Cork and Seal, a privately funded site reclaimed for industrial use. The cases suggest trade-offs between the following three conditions: (a) the strength of local market demand, (b) the level of contamination, and (c) new use. When market conditions are strong, contamination relatively minor, and land use is remaining industrial, the private sector is more likely to be the sole initiator and implementer of redevelopment. When a project calls for a transfer from contaminated industrial to residential use, faces weak market demand for the final project, and con- tends with a complicated cleanup, the greater is the required public subsidy.

Examining urban brownfields through the public health "macroscope".

Efforts to cope with the legacy of our industrial cities--blight, poverty, environmental degradation, ailing communities--have galvanized action across the public and private sectors to move vacant industrial land, also referred to as brownfields, to productive use; to curb sprawling development outside urban areas; and to reinvigorate urban communities. Such efforts, however, may be proceeding without thorough investigations into the environmental health and safety risks associated with industrial brownfields properties and the needs of affected neighborhoods. We describe an approach to characterize vacant and underused industrial and commercial properties in Southeast Baltimore and the health and well being of communities living near these properties. The screening algorithm developed to score and rank properties in Southeast Baltimore (n= 182) showed that these sites are not benign. The historical data revealed a range of hazardous operations, including metal smelting, oil refining, warehousing, and transportation, as well as paints, plastics, and metals manufacturing. The data also identified hazardous substances linked to these properties, including heavy metals, solvents, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, plasticizers, and insecticides, all of which are suspected or recognized toxicants and many of which are persistent in the environment. The health analysis revealed disparities across Southeast Baltimore communities, including excess deaths from respiratory illness (lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, influenza, and pneumonia), total cancers, and a "leading cause of death" index and a spatial and statistical relationship between environmentally degraded brownfields areas and at-risk communities. Brownfields redevelopment is a key component of our national efforts to address environmental justice and health disparities across urban communities and is critical to urban revitalization. Incorporating public health into brownfields-related cleanup and land-use decisions will increase the odds for successful neighborhood redevelopment and long-term public health benefits.

How Many Urban Brownfields are Out There?: An Economic Base Contraction Analysis of 31 U.S. Cities

How many brownfield sites are there in the United States? Although numerous federal and state lists of contaminated lands are known—totaling more than 380,000 sites—there is no comprehensive estimate of unlisted or total brownfield sites. This article uses economic base contraction analysis to provide an estimate of the number and acreage of brownfield sites, by type and as a percentage of the land, in 31 large cities in the United States. This approach recognizes that brownfields are the outcome of years of decline in central-city manufacturing, trade, transportation, and residential uses. Using a moderately restrictive definition of brownfield, there are an estimated 75,000 formerly industrial brownfield sites in these U.S. central cities, on 93,000 acres. This is about 5% of the land area in these communities. Another 20,000 acres are present in these same cities in the form of residential brownfields. These findings imply that the overall number of nonresidential brownfields sites in the United States is at least 500,000 to 600,000 or more.