By Derrick L. Coley
December 8, 2003

Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. The Conference of Mayors now has a federal program in place to help develop these underutilized properties.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Brownfields Technology Support Center (BTSC) continues to research and produce educational tools for site owners, project managers and regulators to expedite and streamline the brownfields redevelopment process in assessments and cleanups.

The Support Center created a primer entitled, Using the Triad Approach to Streamline Brownfields Site Assessment and Cleanup, with the goal to improve the economic viability of brownfields redevelopment by reducing costs and decreasing time frames in the various stages of redevelopment process.

The Triad approach seeks to eliminate the uncertainties of the brownfields redevelopment management process by linking systematic project planning; dynamic work plan strategies and real time measurement technologies. The Triad approach stresses the need to manage the unknowns in the brownfields redevelopment process in order to prevent errors such as missed contamination and minimizing cost overruns.

The Triad builds each step of the redevelopment process into a conceptual site model (CSM), that identifies site contamination concerns such as how it got there, whether or not it is migrating or degrading, how variable are the concentrations across the site, what receptors might be exposed, and what risk-reduction strategies are most feasible. This primer outlines the components of the Triad approach by discussing the various elements that should be considered from initial assessment and analysis of contaminates, to ongoing monitoring and measuring activities during remediation to finally incorporating end use plans that maximize land use potential. The primer highlights the focus areas in Understanding the Context of Cleanup, such as reuse plans and goals that drive site decisions, which in turn determine approaches and tools that stakeholders should implement to augment possible impediments during the redevelopment.

The first component project pitfalls by identifying data gaps and tools that may be needed to manage uncertainty. This part of the Triad is the most universally applicable regardless of the site, because it can be used for any project during the cleanup process. The systematic project-planning component is essential because it recognizes what tools and resources are currently available to brownfields coordinators, by drawing on prior experiences and institutional knowledge.

The dynamic work plan strategies section of the Triad is key to moving the project forward in regards to downtime during the remediation stage, by ensuring accurate data collection to reach decisions. This second component of the Triad allows brownfields coordinators to close knowledge gaps by crafting a decisions tree, which is split between daily and long-term decisions. The third component the "real-time measurement technology" incorporates more than onsite data sampling and analysis technology. This component encompasses "thinking outside the box" to increase the efficient use of data from sampling technologies on site, computer software and the rapid turn around of results to reach decisions. This part of the Triad exercise of the analytical methods and equipment at the disposal of decision makers to ensure project completion.

The Using the Triad Approach to Streamline Brownfields Site Assessment and Cleanup primer is an invaluable reference for smaller communities without prior experience in brownfields redevelopment asking, "Where to begin?" The primer outlines the necessary strategies and steps that must be incorporated in the redevelopment process in a concise and easy to use manner, which is not intimidating. More importantly, larger communities familiar with the brownfields redevelopment process may also find the primer useful in training new staff and building institutional knowledge to ensure continued success.

A printed or hard copy version of this document can be obtained at: http://cluin.org/triad/ and more information can be found at www.brownfieldstsc.org or by calling toll free 1-877-838-7220.

Contact information for USEPA Regional Brownfields Coordinators can be found at www.epa.gov/brownfields/contacts.htm.