Brownfield Basics
Land that is abandoned or underused because of concerns about contamination, with complication in redevelopment.
What is a brownfield?
Brownfield site located in Niagra Falls, NY
What is Love Canon?
The agency that sets standards for site cleanups. Hint: NOT the EPA.
What is the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)?
An effect on human/wildlife because of brownfields/radiation
the area is ecologically inert,
animals can't survive due to poisoned water/food supply
negative effects on humans from carcinogens
Name two common contaminants
Lead, asbestos, heavy metals, VOCs, petroleum, PAHs, arsenic, Dichloroethane, Benzene, copper, etc.?
This federal agency provides grants and support to assess and clean up brownfields in the U.S.
What is the EPA - Environmental Protection Agency?
Species that the Olathe Pollinator Prairie primarily conserved
What is a monarch butterfly?
According to EPA, how many brownfields are in the U.S?
What is >450,000?
The ability of an ecosystem to survive and recover from events of stress, disaster, etc.
What is resilience?
Name a way a site can be contaminated.
What is [hazardous/industrial waste, chemical spills, improper disposal, mining, landfills, lead-paint, etc.]?
One difference between a brownfield and a superfund
Brownfields:
Sites with potential contaminants.
Contamination levels are low to moderate.
Cleanup is handled by local, private, or state entities with EPA support.
High redevelopment priority.
Managed under the EPA’s Brownfields Program.
Typically reused for commercial or residential purposes.
Superfund Sites:
Sites where hazardous waste was mismanaged (dumped or left in the open).
Contamination levels are high.
Cleanup is EPA-led, sometimes involving legally liable or private parties.
Lower redevelopment priority due to severity and complexity.
Managed under the Superfund (CERCLA) Program.
Typically used for environmental remediation.
The Cayuga County groundwater contamination plume is between which two human settlements?
What is the City of Auburn and Village of Union Springs?
This U.S. federal law, amended in 2002 by the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act, provides the legal framework for cleaning up brownfield sites
What is the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA
How can brownfields be reused to create biodiverse ecosystems?
Examples include prairies, parks, green roofs, wetlands, forests, grasslands, and more.
The best way to ensure groundwater quality after cleanup
What is continuous groundwater monitoring?
According to brownfield redevelopment best practices, these three factors make a revitalization project successful over the long term.
What are long-term recovery and monitoring, ecological and community integration, and ongoing support from government and stakeholders?
The percentage of soil testing falsified for the Hunters Point Case Study (deemed by the EPA)
What is 93%?
The act that gives the EPA authority over solid waste.
What is the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act?
Name five impacts of VOCs
Developmental, reproductive, neurological, and endocrine impacts
Cancer, birth defects, mutations
Weakness in legs
Damage to the nervous system
Damage to bird embryos
Death
Reproductive issues
Epinasty
Chlorosis
Reduction in dry weight, number of flowers, protein content
Death
Genotoxicity and epigenotoxicity
Decreased populations
Any contaminated liquid that is generated from water percolating through a solid waste disposal site, accumulating contaminants, and moving into subsurface areas.
What is leachate?