In a collaborative effort to redevelop and put tax delinquent properties back on the rolls, town officials are working on the next step in rehabilitating designated brownfield properties. After receiving two $400,000 assessment grants — one in 2011 and another in 2013 — Stratford Conservation Administrator Brian Carey has been overseeing the assessment of brownfield properties throughout the town. “These are severely underutilized properties creating hardship for residents,” said Carey, emphasizing the strain these properties place on the community both environmentally and financially.
As defined in the Connecticut General Statutes, a brownfield is “any abandoned or underutilized site where redevelopment, reuse or expansion has not occurred due to the presence or potential presence of pollution in the buildings, soil or groundwater that requires investigation or remediation before or in conjunction with the restoration, redevelopment, reuse and expansion of the property.”
The town currently owns three designated brownfield properties: Contract Plating at 540 Longbrook Avenue, Mercer Fuel at 2350 Stratford Avenue and Peasley Products at 993 Honeyspot Road, with an estimated 80 more properties targeted for remediation and redevelopment.
Last week the Town Council approved a budget that includes revenue of $4.6 million expected from the sale of foreclosed brownfields sites.
In the coming months, the town expects to foreclose on several other properties that have been markedly tax delinquent, some for as long as 15 years. Brian Carey said that he does not want to see properties foreclosed on unnecessarily, but noted that these sites are severely delinquent and constitute a burden to the community environmentally. “Every site is different and requires its own Remedial Action Plan based on future end use for the property,” said Carey, regarding how contaminants and hazardous materials will be disposed.
Assess before marketing
Assessment of brownfield sites is completed in three phases. Phase I: preliminary survey of site and general fact-finding; Phase II: determining the presence or absence of specific contaminants through soil and ground water testing, and exactly how far the pollutants have spread; and Phase III: preparing a Remedial Action Plan (RAP), including options for cleanup and cost estimates.
Mercer Fuel, for example, has been vacant since the early 1980s. A former coal facility, the town has completed its assessments and removed three 30,000-gallon oil tanks. It is hoping to begin demolition this summer. “I hope the public will see the progress being made,” Carey said. “This is about developing properties that move the community forward. It is a keystone project,” he said.
While the assessment grants have helped get these projects off the ground, they are limited in their use. “The only problem is that we have to be strategic about how we spend this money,” said Carey, pointing out that the grant money is earmarked. “Two hundred thousand dollars is for petroleum assessment only, leaving only $200,000 for other hazardous waste assessment.”
Carey stressed the importance of needing full access to the ground underneath the buildings to complete the contaminant assessments. For Contract Plating, “We will finish the assessment of the whole property after the demolition has been completed,” he said. “The main contaminants at this site are chromium, cadmium, and some PCBs,” adding that he believes water contamination will not be a concern as it uses city water, not well water. He said the pollution levels vary, but he believes that the majority of contamination exists two feet below the surface, which is why wood waste company Good Earth is allowed to lease the property currently. “You can have air pollution from soil vapor, but that is not an issue in these areas,” he said, “That is more of a problem on Raymark properties and Superfund sites in general, which this is not.”
Carey says he is waiting on a draft copy of the Phase III Environmental Site Assessment on Peasley Products, the third town-owned property. “Further investigation will likely be required based on the most recent investigation before a remedial action plan can be developed. There are PCBs in the soils that require further assessment.”
Preparing for market
Carey says he is anxious to get these properties shovel-ready for developers, so that they are easier to market. That requires demolition, which in turn requires significant funding. He estimates the cost of demolishing the building at Contract Plating at $800,000 to $1 million, and he hopes to begin the bidding process for demolition this summer if the money can be secured. He says the town is seeking additional funding through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).All three agencies have specific brownfield financing available to aid in the process at various stages.
The town’s cost of remediation will be determined by whether the town or a developer handles the actual cleanup and disposal of the contaminants, which are unique to each property. “The only bad thing is that grants for remediation are relatively small, which is why we want to get developers involved in the process.” Carey says that while the town is continuously seeking new grant opportunities for remediation, he hopes to also attract developers who will assume liability for the cleanup after purchasing the property at a low price.
Stratford Director of Economic Development Karen Kaiser agrees. “Because the town is handling the assessment phases of these properties, we are taking care of a lot of the work ahead of time,” making it easier for development to begin.
Brownfields are not Superfund sites
Carey emphasized, “The most important thing that people need to understand is that these brownfields are not Superfund sites. They are totally different types of federal designations,” he said. While Superfund sites, such as Raymark, are completely EPA-run and operated, brownfields are locally controlled and remediated, allowing for more flexibility while maintaining EPA oversight. “This makes the process so much more efficient and allows us to take care of expenses immediately,” he said, clarifying that, even in the hands of private companies, remediation will be consistent with the regulatory standards, and those standards must be met.
Each site will also be assigned a case manager from DEEP.
Brownfield sites do not fall under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) which, according to the town, “ensures the party who created the environmental contamination pays for the cleanup.” Carey explained that much of this pollution occurred around or before the 1980s. Many of those companies are currently destitute or are limited liability corporations.
Raymark properties do fall under CERCLA, however, and therefore are not classified as brownfield.
A great example
According to Carey, Two Roads Brewery stands as the premier example of how a business can successfully utilize a brownfield property. The company, operating since 2012, secured a DECD brownfield grant initially and went on to redevelop the property, pouring its own resources into the site. He would like to see other businesses follow suit, filling voids that exist in the community and cleaning up the manmade pollution in the process.
The town plans to finish assessment of this 540 Longbrook Ave. brownfield property after the buildings are demolished and then market the land for sale.