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Case Study
At first, it was difficult to envision a beautiful townhouse development along a pristine creek in this Pennsylvania community. And even harder to imagine was that this project would become the first property in the country that the Environmental Protection Agency allowed to be converted from a Superfund site to residential use. This PCB-contaminated land, held by a bankrupt owner, was full of asbestos, mercury and lead. The site was encumbered by a $2 million Superfund lien, $2 million in unpaid back taxes and the environmental remediation costs were in excess of $1 million. Dilapidated factory buildings littered the site and homeless persons and drug addicts were frequent visitors. Hardly the vision of a community redevelopment success story. Tapping the expertise of VRP’s partners, $1 million in state grant funding was obtained along with private funds to begin the site clean up. Scores of trucks hauled PCB-contaminated soil more than 1000 miles away and the decaying buildings were demolished. With significant clean up of the site and revitalization of the local community accomplished, the EPA released its superfund lien and the local government agreed to release the tax lien on the property. With the help of the local government, the property was rezoned and, within a few short years, attractive townhouse units were built which tripled in value. A federal EPA success story, this project has been hailed as “an excellent example of how a sound redevelopment plan and strong partnership between federal, state, local and private entities can transform a site from a brownfield to a redevelopment success.” |
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