By Ted Fischer
February 11, 2008

Conference of Mayors’ Brownfields Task Force Chair Elizabeth (NJ) Mayor J. Christian Bollwage released on January 24 the latest Brownfield’s Report at the Environmental Committee at the Conference of Mayors’ Winter Meeting.

Bollwage said, “Brownfield’s are defined as sites whose redevelopment are hindered by either real or perceived environmental contamination, and can range in size from the 100-acre former industrial site to a former dry cleaning store. What all Brownfield’s have in common is that they are no longer productive pieces of property.”

Bollwage outlined the Conference’s work for the past 15 years to redevelop these properties. The released Survey features 209 cities from across the country who reported nearly 25,000 Brownfield’s sites with over 3,000 sites labeled as “mothballed.” Mothballed sites are where the owner has no intention of redeveloping or selling due to environmental concerns. However, 150 cities did reported successfully redeveloping nearly 1,600 sites representing nearly 17,000 acres.

The Conference of Mayor’s survey also reported that jobs that have been created have increased consistently over the past three years. Eighty cities reported a total of 187,000 new jobs — 71,000 predevelopment and 116,000 post development. Survey respondents also stated that if their Brownfield properties were redeveloped, they could realize nearly $1.3 billion to $3.8 billion annually with 62 cities providing actual tax revenues totaling over $400 million.

Conference President Trenton (NJ) Mayor Douglas H. Palmer said “I want to thank all of the Mayors for their participation with the survey, and I thank Mayors Patrick McCrory and Chris Bollwage for their excellent work on this important project.”

For more information on the survey, see usmayors.org for a downloadable version.