Editorial: Reviving Brownfields

Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin, April 27, 2003

April 27, 2003

Editorial: Reviving brownfields

Brownfield is a term applied to previously-used industrial sites, and there are about 80 of them in the Greater Binghamton region. Though forged in the past, they also serve as the potential foundation for our economic future -- prime locations with existing connections to water, sewer and power lines and ready access to highways. What we need are the keys to unlocking them.  

That will be the topic of a workshop at Broome Community College on Monday organized by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. and presented by The National Brownfield Association. The Greater Binghamton Coalition is also supporting the program, which addresses one of the main topics in the BC Plan for economic recovery prepared by AngelouEconomics last year.

Clinton is scheduled to attend, along with other federal, state and local officials and Robert V. Colangelo, executive director of the National Brownfield Association. According to a press release, "The goal of the workshop is to promote the responsible development of brownfields by providing information that help both government and private sector participants overcome the challenges associated with redeveloping these sites."

Participants will receive information on the redevelopment process and government incentives that are available. The workshop also will review how to develop partnership between the community and the private sector.

Clinton has made brownfield redevelopment a priority, not just in Greater Binghamton but across upstate New York, where many communities share the same plight. In this case, she's fulfilling a promise she made in January to help get our community moving in the right direction.

As welcome as her effort is, and as determined as we hope local officials will be to reclaim these sites, there is important work to be done in Albany as well. Some developers say the state programs governing brownfield sites are high on red tape and low on priority. That's got to change.

Certainly the state needs to maintain a reasonable standard of cleanliness -- one that protects the well-being of workers and neighboring residents -- but expecting a restoration of pristine conditions is too much because it's too expensive a proposition. Beyond that, the state needs to streamline the site-reclamation process so that everyone involved -- developers, municipal officials, environmentalists and residents -- can see quickly and clearly just how much work and cost will be required for a specific site.

Not all brownfield sites are polluted, and not all pollutants are highly toxic. Some sites are already vacant while others have rotting structures that have to come down before anything new can rise. But nearly all retain some value, and many could again become thriving commercial or retail sites, if not industrial sites.

They were fertile once, and they can be again.

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