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Monday, June 21, 2010
Environment - "Property owners are wary of being hit with the 'brownfield' label"
A lengthy story on brownfields today in the NWI Times, reported by Sarah Tompkins. A quote:
Northwest Indiana has scores of properties not being used to their maximum capacity, locals officials say, but it is not always easy for communities to get grants to fund remediation.It can be just as difficult for residents to get a comprehensive list of environmentally scarred properties, and owners are wary of being hit with the "brownfield" label.
A brownfield is an inactive piece of real estate that may pose -- or is perceived to pose -- health and environmental threats, according to the EPA, which can make potential owners hesitant to redevelop the land.
"People can get quite upset having their property listed as a brownfield," said Kay Nelson, environmental director for the Northwest Indiana Forum, a business group. "They don't understand how broad that definition is, so they think that if their property is called a brownfield, it puts an extremely negative adjective on their property."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 21, 2010 10:23 AM
Posted to Environment