Clinton to speak on brownfields

BY TODD MCADAM
Press & Sun-Bulletin

CLINTON

The first step toward reclaiming the dozens of brownfields that dot Binghamton's economic face like so many pockmarks is knowing how to do it, which is the focus of a workshop Monday at Broome Community College.  

"Brownfields are one of the most effective ways to promote economic development," said Kenneth Kamlet, a lawyer and chairman of the brownfields subcommittee of Broome County's Environmental Management Council.

Re-developing those used industrial sites -- more than 80 have been included in a database that Kamlet's committee has compiled -- is key to re-developing Broome County's economy, county leaders said.

That's why Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton worked with the Greater Binghamton Coalition and the National Brownfield Association to present the seminar to officials and developers from across upstate New York. Clinton will give the opening and closing remarks at the seminar.

"This was at the top of the list of their priorities," said Clinton's spokeswoman, Nina Blackwell. "She's interested in a number of tools for economic development, everything from broadband to brownfields."

Brownfields are former industrial sites that are presumed to be contaminated. Clinton got involved after meeting in January with Kamlet, who also is an attorney for Newman Development Co., and a variety of other economic leaders.

The issue is that brownfields can be contaminated with any number of ugly substances, and cleanup makes development more expensive than pristine greenfields. In Broome County, the brownfields are closest to the urban core, where leaders want to focus new businesses.

"The way you've got to address this is by treating them as land-use and real-estate issues, and cleanup will inevitably follow," Kamlet said.

However, New York pushes the cleanup angle first, which he said scares away potential developers.

"It's kind of the tail wagging the dog," Kamlet said. "You've got to make it attractive for volunteers to come forward."

The three-hour seminar, led by the National Brownfield Association of Chicago, will focus on the brownfield market and government incentives, and will feature a panel discussion of the issues.

That's pretty basic stuff to a complex problem, Kamlet said, but it's important stuff.

"Anything to help focus public attention on the realistic needs is a step forward," he said. "Hillary Clinton is very good at providing buzz on an issue."

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