With brownfield redevelopments across the country stalled as a result of the current economic downturn, it is essential that developers use cost–effective, low-impact remediation methods to clean up their properties. ­Sophisticated site assessments and cleanup technologies are being applied to brownfield properties to realize their full market value. These pioneering methodologies are not only being employed with new brownfield properties slated for redevelopment, but also with contaminated sites that have not been satisfactorily remediated using traditional approaches. The new approaches present green solutions that provide developers with tools to create sustainable communities.

Environmental management of contaminated properties can be drawn out and expensive. However, brownfield redevelopment can become more viable by taking the correct course of action. Many factors must be taken into consideration when evaluating a site for redevelopment including the value and demand for the property, the type and extent of contamination, regulatory authorities, risk to public health and environment, cost, and the objectives of the owners.

Recently, the combination of proactive and innovative environmental management approaches coupled with redevelopment planning and implementation has been successfully utilized to reduce overall environmental lifecycle costs, increase property value, and thereby maximize return on investment.

Site Assessments and ­Environmental Closure
Developers cannot be fully successful in property marketing and redevelopment if they do not consider the environmental conditions of their property. With complete understanding of the current environmental status of a property, developers can adequately manage environmental risk such that property value can be maximized and environmental costs can be minimized.

By conducting site assessments of the soil and groundwater with the goal of environmental closure – when the cleanup meets risk and regulatory requirements – the developers obtain the information they need to make the decision on how best to maximize the property’s full market value. There are three components of a site assessment and selection and implementation of the appropriate remedial technology to be considered when evaluating the environmental liability associated with an environmentally stressed property:

• Technical
• 
  Institutional
• 
  Cost

Technical
Conventional site assessments take a “hatchet” to the subsurface of a contaminated property in that only a limited set of locations at singular depths are evaluated for contamination and the subsequent results of the evaluation are broadly applied to the property as a whole. This rationale is ineffective because it assumes the presence of contamination in areas it may not exist and the absence of contamination in areas where it may exist. These assumptions can lead to considerable under- or over-estimations of environmental risks and correlating environmental costs.

Innovative closure-based site assessments are different from their conventional counterparts by taking a “scalpel” to a contaminated property. This surgical evaluation dissects the subsurface of a contaminated property at multiple ­locations and multiple depths thereby providing a more meticulous comprehension of the horizontal and vertical contamination profile. In addition, it allows for the determination of any unknown factors (i.e., geologic conditions) that may directly influence the contamination’s interaction with the subsurface. By putting an emphasis on thoroughly understanding the present and possible future location of contamination, developers can be armed with smarter strategies to mitigate the properties to environmental closure.

Institutional
While gaining a concrete grasp of a property’s contamination profile is valuable, an innovative closure-based site assessment is incomplete if performed without institutional considerations. Institutional factors may include the concerns of the property owner or other stakeholders, the ultimate land use, surrounding landowner requirements, compliance with regulatory requirements, development timeframes, community relations, and/or property transfers. For example, development of a property as residential housing has different regulatory requirements versus a property being developed for industrial purposes. Therefore, the assessment activities should be correspondingly modified to include this type of analysis. The redevelopment of brownfields now provides credits towards the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certification process. By considering assessment and remediation activities with site development plans, owners can begin to accrue LEED certification points.

Tailoring site assessments with institutional matters in mind allows for the collection of requisite data that can ultimately transform insurmountable closure barriers into minor hurdles that can be efficiently and effectively managed.

Cost
Brownfield redevelopment projects have favored conventional site assessments in the interest of perceived cost savings. The mantra being that the inherent nature of contaminated property redevelopment is so capital intensive, why take away from the bottom line by devoting capital on the front end for site assessment? The application of this approach typically yields a poor understanding of the contamination profile, which can translate into additional assessment costs, higher remediation costs, and longer cleanup lifecycles.

Fortunately, the growing emphasis on closure-focused site assessment is beginning to change the old rationale held by the redevelopment community. The additional site characterization integrated with the institutional criteria routinely pays dividends by providing better site decisions, lowers treatment costs, and results in quicker and cheaper closures.

New Remediation Technologies
By accurately identifying a three-dimensional picture of where contaminants are found within the subsurface, how concentrated they are, and how they relate to institutional considerations for the site, the technologies or combination of technologies that are best to remediate the contaminants can be identified. Recently, new injection methods and innovative technologies designed to treat contaminants in the ground via injection of slurry mixtures are being applied and revolutionizing the environmental remediation field. These technologies provide a whole new set of tools that can be used to clean up contaminated sites scheduled for redevelopment. The new technologies are innovative due to their utilization of discrete chemical and/or biologically based injections, as opposed to the permanent infrastructures of more traditional mechanical remediation systems.

Low-impact equipment accomplishes cleanup in a matter of weeks or months. Compare that with the years needed for mechanical systems that require a semi-permanent piping infrastructure, equipment compound, on-site technicians, sizable energy requirements, permits, etc. As an added benefit, injection technologies are green remediation practices relative to mechanical systems, with no surface infrastructure footprint, no energy intensive requirements, and no on-site technicians frequently traveling by vehicle. Unlike excavation removal projects, there are no air quality impacts from heavy earth moving equipment, no construction-related stormwater impacts, and zero landfill requirements. Injection technologies also rival traditional remediation systems, as contaminants are often destroyed in-situ, where many traditional mechanical remediation systems often simply transfer contaminants to another media (air) or location (landfill).

Injection-based remediation technologies can be applied at almost any impacted site that would typically be approached using the standard in-situ (below ground) or ex-situ (above ground) remediation technologies. In addition, injection technologies surpass excavation/contamination removal in the context of sustainable redevelopment.

Conclusion
Smart application of focused assessment techniques along with proven innovative injection technologies to eliminate or destroy subsurface contamination will provide developers with the ability to reduce costs and liabilities associated with distressed properties. By eliminating impacts at sites quickly and cheaply, these in-situ technologies get properties on line quicker for owners and offer the added value of gaining LEED certification points by initiating the creation of sustainable sites.

Converting brownfields to greenfields through the utilization of precision site assessments and innovative technologies combine to provide sustainable redevelopment, increased marketability, and public favor. SLDT

About the author: Mike McKee, P.E., is a project manager with LT Environmental, Inc., developers of the TerraCert® Precision Remediation and Site Closure Program. He can be reached at 303-433-9788 or: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it