New push to clean up Brownfields
New push to clean up Brownfields
by David Winzelberg
First published in Long Island Business News on February 12, 2010
Planners and community advocates are campaigning to revamp the way incentives are awarded for the redevelopment of brownfields in New York after nearly $350 million in state tax credits were given to developers in the last two years for construction projects that may have been built without the benefits.
Bethpage-based Sustainable Long Island has been carrying the torch locally for the reform effort, which is aimed at coordinating the state’s three brownfield programs and revising the criteria that was used to give out tax credits of more than $180 million in 2008 and $174 million in 2009, none of it in Nassau or Suffolk counties.
In fact, close to $1 billion in tax benefits from the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program has gone to projects around the state since 2003, according to a Department of Environmental Conservation survey of sites.
Projects receiving Brownfield Cleanup program tax credits last year include $19.8 million toward a new IKEA store in Brooklyn, $50.4 million for a Ritz Carlton Hotel and Residences in White Plains, and $670,150 for a Lowe’s hardware store in Syracuse.
Sarah Lansdale, executive director for Sustainable Long Island, said while it’s good that tainted sites are getting cleaned and redeveloped, the state system should consider more than just the environmental consequences when doling out the taxpayers’ money. She said the state should continue to aggressively assist brownfield redevelopment but tie some strings to the tax benefits it furnishes.
“There should be economic criteria,” Lansdale said. “How many and what kind of jobs will the project create? Is it near mass transit? Is it consistent with what the community needs?”
Currently there are three brownfield entities that operate on the state level. The Department of State runs the Brownfield Opportunity Area program and the DEC runs the Brownfield Cleanup Program and the Environmental Restoration Program.
There are more than 100 communities statewide in the Brownfield Opportunity Area program, including nine on Long Island that have received a total of $841,470 in benefits.
Wyandanch is one of three communities in the state that received a special “spotlight community” designation to promote collaboration between environmental, housing and economic development agencies.
Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone said Wyandanch is littered with brownfield sites, but instead of fixing them one at a time, the BOA program allows comprehensive revitalization of an entire neighborhood.
“Wyandanch is a real success story for the state,” Bellone said. “It shows the power of aligning resources to create a sustainable community.”
And instead of site-by-site planning, Lansdale said the BOA program is pioneering area-wide design in the redevelopment of tainted sites.
Lansdale said the federal model of brownfield incentives includes three agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which coordinate efforts.
On Long Island, planners and state officials have identified nearly 7,000 properties that could be classified as brownfields, formerly developed sites that have or are perceived to have contamination from prior uses. Cleaning up a brownfields property can be as simple as excavating contaminated soil for disposal off site, or as intricate as extensive ground water treatment.