State environmental officials recently joined Lt. Governor Timothy Murray to tour the South Worcester Industrial Park Brownfields site in Worcester. Shown (l-r) are: Anne Marie Dowd of MassDevelopment, MassDEP Commissioner Laurie Burt, Lt. Gov. Murray, MassDEP Deputy Regional Director Mary Gardner, Undersecretary of the Environment Phil Griffiths, and Worcester City Manager Michael V. O’Brien. During the visit and subsequent Patrick Administration cabinet meeting, Commissioner Burt outlined the new Brownfields Support Team Initiative that will assist in the redevelopment of this Worcester site, as well as sites in Fall River, Haverhill, Grafton, and Springfield. On a former brownfields site in Cambridge now stands the Genzyme building.

Lt. Gov Murray Hosts Events Statewide to Mark Brownfields Act 10th Anniversary

The Patrick Administration has declared November "Brownfields Month," and events scheduled around the state will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the signing of the landmark Massachusetts Brownfields Act and celebrate the Commonwealth's accomplishments over the past decade.

The first Brownfields Month event was held Nov. 6, and marked the 10-year anniversary of the signing of the Brownfields Act. The event featured Lt. Governor Timothy Murray and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, and was held at the Spire Creative Service site in Dorchester. This former Brownfields site was redeveloped into commercial and office space, and it hosted the ceremony 10 years ago when the Act was signed into law.

The second Brownfields Month event is set for Nov. 13 at the Boys and Girls Club of Worcester. The mini-conference will feature a welcome from Lt. Gov. Murray, remarks about Brownfields redevelopment nationally and internationally by keynote speaker Robert Colangelo of the National Brownfields Association, and a Brownfields panel discussion lead by MassDEP Commissioner Laurie Burt.

The third Brownfields Month event will be held Nov. 20 at The Arbors assisted living facility in Greenfield. This event will showcase a successful Brownfields redevelopment project that used all programs created under the 1998 Brownfields Act. It will feature remarks from Lt. Gov. Murray and Attorney General Martha Coakley.

A fourth Brownfields Month event being planned on Nov. 25 in Taunton is entitled "The Environmental Business Council Celebrates the Future of Brownfields."

A Decade of Brownfields Successes
Massachusetts was like many states in the 1990s, suffering from a glut of abandoned and polluted parcels of land. These Brownfield sites were forgotten, as potential developers stayed away because of the environmental contamination, lack of financial support and poor market conditions.

In 1998, the first-in-the-nation Brownfields Act was signed, making it less risky for municipalities and developers to undertake difficult Brownfields projects. The Act provided financial incentives, liability relief, low-interest loans for the assessment and cleanup of sites, tax credits to cover cleanup costs, and covenants not to sue for developers that comply with the state's cleanup rules.

Since its enactment, state-sponsored programs have been instrumental in assessing, cleaning up and redeveloping more than 1,300 Brownfields sites across the Commonwealth. MassDEP staff has provided proactive assistance to 723 of those projects in more than 200 communities.

The Brownfields Redevelopment Fund (administered by MassDevelopment) has disbursed more than $41.8 million to fund 418 assessment and cleanup projects. An estimated 4,945 new housing units were created, and 1,171 acres of land were assessed and cleaned up.

Funding provided through the state subsidized environmental insurance program has leveraged $6.6 million in cleanup funding, leading to the creation of 27,000 new jobs, and $4.1 billion in development expenditures.

The Brownfields Month events will celebrate the past accomplishments, as well as look ahead to initiatives that will bring Brownfields redevelopment to a new level, and allow work to begin on the next generation of sites that pose even tougher challenges.

These efforts include the Brownfields Support Team Initiative, announced by Lt. Gov. Murray this summer. This initiative will concentrate state financial, legal and technical resources on the five pilot projects announced this summer (City Pier in Fall River, Ted's for Tires in Haverhill, Fisherville Mill in Grafton, South Worcester Industrial Park in Worcester, and Chapman Valve in Springfield).

Further efforts will include reducing greenhouse gas emissions in major real estate developments - including Brownfields - through the permit review process. The initiative will also promote Brownfields redevelopment and the use of clean energy technologies in Environmental Justice communities where residents suffer disproportionately from environmental risks or hazards.

For more information on Brownfields Month issues and events, turn to: www.mass.gov/dep/cleanup/brownfie.htm

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