Brownfields

DNR Brownfields Program Releases New Video Highlighting Cleanup and Redevelopment Successes

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

The DNR brownfields program is pleased to present “Beans & Brew,” a seven-minute video highlighting the remediation and redevelopment efforts undertaken by Milwaukee’s Colectivo Coffee and the Potosi Brewery. These two stories highlight the impressive impact of collaboration between private industry, local public sector supporters and the DNR.

Over 20 years of experience has shown that cleanups are both possible and profitable. The environment and the economy can benefit together, as confirmed by a recent UW-Whitewater study.

Beans & Brew is the brownfields program’s most recent video to highlight a successful cleanup and redevelopment project in Wisconsin. Other videos can be seen on the agency’s YouTube channel. Write-ups on these and 101 additional successful redevelopment stories are available at http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Brownfields/Success.html.

Leverage Resources for Brownfields Redevelopment

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

The US EPA’s new guide – Setting the Stage for Leveraging Resources for Brownfields Revitalization – assists communities in overcoming the challenges of making sound investment decisions to attract additional resources for brownfields revitalization projects. This guide is intended to help communities identify how best to invest limited local resources that could potentially open opportunities for additional public funds and attract the interest and support of outside investors for additional funding.

Wisconsin DNR Receives EPA Coalition Assessment Grant

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

The DNR’s RR Program will continue to help communities assess their brownfield sites with the addition of a $600,000 grant from the US EPA’s Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup (ARC) grant program. The DNR, in partnership with the Wisconsin Brownfields Coalition (WBC), is one of four Wisconsin entities to receive an FY16 ARC grant, allowing the agency to continue providing assistance to communities through the Wisconsin Assessment Monies (WAM) program. The WAM program provides no-cost environmental assessments at sites that are poised for cleanup and redevelopment. The WBC includes the DNR and all nine Wisconsin Regional Planning Commissions.

In the EPA press release, Administrator Gina McCarthy says, “These grants will empower communities to transform idle, languishing lands into vibrant hubs for business, jobs, and recreation. It’s all about empowering that initial funding, and sparking that first conversation to set stalled sites on a path to smart, safe redevelopment that directly benefits communities.”

UW-Whitewater Report Shows Positive Impacts on Distressed Areas and Small Towns

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

An article in Renewal and Redevelopment highlights some impressive numbers from the UW Whitewater report, “The Economic and Fiscal Impact of Wisconsin’s Brownfields Investments” particularly as it relates to small communities and distressed areas. The article points out that economically disadvantaged communities received more assistance than more prosperous areas in the state. More than half of assisted sites were in census tracts with a lower median household income than the state as a whole.

The investment of cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields has also had an impact on small Wisconsin communities. Small towns with fewer than 15,000 people can be greatly impacted by a blighted property. The redevelopment of an abandoned site can help bring a community back to life.

The UW-Whitewater study was prepared by the University’s Fiscal and Economic Research Center for the Brownfields Study Group and the Wisconsin Economic Development Institute.

FY 2016 RR Program 128(a) Mid-Year Report Complete

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

The RR Program’s mid-year report to US EPA, which details outputs and outcomes funded by a federal grant, is now available for review. The Section 128(a) Grant Mid-Year Report, for the reporting period of September 1, 2015 to February 29, 2016, highlights work completed in the first half of the funding year. Since 2003, the RR Program has consistently and efficiently used these funds under a cooperative agreement with the US EPA to enhance state efforts with brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. Previous reports can be found on the Brownfields Program web page.

UW-Whitewater Report Identifies Big Benefits from Brownfield Reclamation

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

Since 1998, Wisconsin has invested $121.4 million in the remediation of 703 contaminated properties, according to a recent UW-Whitewater study. The study says this investment leveraged tens of millions of dollars in local and federal incentives, and recouped nearly $1.8 billion from enhanced economic activity. This is a 14-fold return on investment, on top of the public health and environmental benefits generated by these cleanup projects.

The 703 projects that received state assistance are a small, but important, portion of the 15,000-plus state properties that have been cleaned up and put back into productive use over the past 20 years. These brownfield properties were once some of the toughest projects to tackle. They were dilapidated, destitute and, often, significantly contaminated. These properties needed a public push to get going.

The UW-Whitewater study, prepared by the University’s Fiscal and Economic Research Center for the Brownfields Study Group and the Wisconsin Economic Development Institute, calculates that local governments in Wisconsin gain $88.5 million annually from redeveloped brownfields.

The report shows that $1.00 of state funding for brownfields projects leverages $27.25 in total economic growth funding. In other words, $121.4 million from the state has generated $3.3 billion in direct total investment. The report also identified 29,883 direct new and retained permanent jobs related to completed projects in the 703 studied, and says another 9,107 jobs are planned at projects still underway.