Brownfield land
Posted on:3/30/2006
| Brownfields are defined as abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. |
Brownfields are defined as abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.
In city planning, brownfield land (or simply a brownfield) is land previously used for industrial purposes, or certain commercial uses, and that may be contaminated by low concentrations of hazardous waste or pollution and has the potential to be reused once it is cleaned up. Land that is more serverly contaminated and has high concentrations of hazardous waste or pollution, such as Superfund or hazardous waste sites, does not fall under the brownfield classification.
The term "brownfields" was introduced by the Northeast/Midwest Institute in 1996 to address the contaminated urban properties.
Locations
Generally, brownfield sites exist in a town's industrial section, on land containing abandoned factories or commercial buildings, or other previously polluting operations. Small brownfields may also be found in many older residential neighborhoods. For example, many dry cleaning establishments or gas stations produced high levels of subsurface contaminants during prior operations and the land they occupy might sit idle for decades as a brownfield.
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