With more than 3,800 acres of brownfield/voluntary properties being put back into productive use since 2010, thriving communities, environmental justice and Tennessee’s landscape are of the utmost importance to the Division.
Alle Crampton
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) houses the Division of Remediation (DOR). DOR identifies and investigates hazardous substance sites, then uses practical and effective remedies to stabilize, remediate, contain, monitor and maintain these sites. These efforts minimize threats to public health, safety and the environment. This makes it the perfect division to facilitate and direct the Tennessee Brownfields Redevelopment Program.
The Tennessee Brownfields Redevelopment Program works with the public to assist in the re-use and revitalization of brownfields in Tennessee. Many properties in Tennessee previously used as gas stations, drycleaners, factories, mills, foundries, junkyards or other potentially contaminated properties that may have contamination from unknown sources qualify as brownfields. Brownfields properties are often abandoned, with owners no longer maintaining the property or paying taxes. Once abandoned, they can quickly become eyesores, and may attract vandalism and illegal dumping, which degrade the environment, depress our communities, and potentially put our health at risk.
Productively reusing brownfields reduces urban sprawl, increases the tax base, cleans up the environment, encourages urban revitalization and creates jobs for the surrounding communities. Brownfields redevelopment may also provide environmental, economic and social benefits in historically disenfranchised communities. The physical elements of such environments, may contribute to human disease and illness, economic disincentive, infrastructure decay and overall community disintegration.
Brownfields may also contribute to additional burdens to environmental justice sites. The goal of environmental justice is to achieve socially equitable, environmentally healthy and ecologically sustainable communities. Accordingly, brownfields redevelopment is one tool that can address the needs and goals of environmental justice communities.
VOAP
The Voluntary Cleanup, Oversight and Assistance Program (VOAP) is part of what makes up DOR’s Tennessee Brownfields Redevelopment Program. VOAP encourages the redevelopment of brownfields by providing technical assistance and concurrence that a property has been investigated and remediated, if required, to allow for safe reuse. Tennessee’s Voluntary Oversight and Assistance Program was established with the goal of encouraging prospective purchasers to redevelop brownfields properties by limiting the liability for new owners and providing oversight in the investigation and cleanup process. It supports the redevelopment and revitalization of brownfields to protect the environment, reuse existing infrastructure, minimize urban sprawl and create economic opportunities.
Under statute (TCA 68-212- 224), the program provides prospective purchasers of impacted properties with the opportunity to work with the State on properties contaminated by hazardous substances, solid waste, or any other pollutant, including petroleum. The program also offers relief from liability under all environmental statutes that is transferable to successors in title.
VOAP includes a process1 for how to address a brownfields project. This process involves completing environmental assessments and working with the Division of Remediation to come to an agreement on how to address contamination. The next steps involve a Voluntary Agreement and No Further Action Letter. This letter is extremely important to demonstrate to potential buyers or lenders that they have addressed the contamination to the satisfaction of the Department.
The program uses a risk-based approach to ensure that sites are safe for the next intended use. In many cases, a Notice of Land Use Restrictions may be used to place limits or requirements on future uses at the property, due to varying levels of cleanup possible, practical or necessary at the site.
Economics of Revitalization
Increasingly, brownfields redevelopment has become an important part of economic development and community revitalization strategies in Tennessee. The Tennessee Brownfields Redevelopment Program staff, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD) and the Center for Economic Research in Tennessee (CERT) partnered together to develop a paper2 demonstrating the connection between redeveloping brownfields and economic development. This paper discuses several studies, which have shown that properties in close proximity to a brownfield can lose up to 15 to 30 percent in value. On average, brownfield cleanup leads to a 15 percent increase in local housing prices.
Redevelopment also leads to job creation, which is especially beneficial for communities who have been most impacted by the decline in manufacturing. According to the paper published in 2008, it was established that for every $10,000 spent on brownfield cleanup, one permanent job is created in the area. In Minnesota, for example, brownfield redevelopment programs, very similar to that in Tennessee, have led to $44 in private investment for every $1 leveraged and the creation of 104,000 jobs.
A majority of ECD projects located at brownfield redevelopment sites have been expansions of existing locations. Seventy-seven projects fall into this category, resulting in 13,559 new job commitments, and $3.6 million in new capital investment. Site development is a key aspect of landing projects in Tennessee. A limited inventory of greenfield sites creates an opportunity to redevelop brownfield sites for future economic development projects. These sites often have infrastructure already in place that allows for less upfront capital investment from state and local governments. As the 77 ECD expansion projects show, once a site has been redeveloped and a company locates at the site, substantial future investment can occur.
Since the beginning of 2016, ECD has announced 16 projects located on sites that have participated in TDEC’s brownfield program. These projects are expected to create 1,892 new jobs in the state and generate $478,825,933 in capital investment. The majority of these projects involve the manufacturing and automotive industries. Over the last six years, ECD’s brownfield-related efforts have been mostly focused on these industries, accounting for 63 percent of the overall number of projects. The largest projects by job commitments include Yorozu Automotive Tennessee (435 job commitments), Stanley Black and Decker (256 job commitments) and Rockline Industries (250 job commitments).
CERT conducted an analysis of these commitments to estimate the anticipated economic and fiscal impacts the projects will have on the state over a 10-year period. The projects are projected to create over 5,600 jobs for Tennesseans over a 10-year time period. This includes 1,892 direct job commitments created through the location of these projects in the state, as well as, 3,730 indirect and induced jobs created in the regional economy in support of these locating companies. These jobs are expected to generate $1.6 billion in new income for Tennessee residents over the 10-year time period. This includes $655.3 million in new incomes created directly from the locating projects and $1.0 billion in the regional economy in support of the direct growing business activity.
The analyzed projects are projected to generate $11.4 billion in economic output through direct, indirect and induced economic activity in the state over a 10-year time period. The generated economic output includes $5.1 billion in direct activity created by the projects once they become fully operational. Economic output is the value of goods and services produced in the state as a result of the project. Economic output can be thought of as the new revenue generated by the direct business and spin-off businesses. Nearly every sector of the state’s economy will receive a positive impact as a result of the increased project activity. The manufacturing sector will receive the largest employment impact with an additional 2,600 estimated jobs to be created as a result of these redevelopment projects.
Success Stories
Historic Downtown and Founder’s Park
Flooding in the historic downtown district of Johnson City, TN was identified as a major barrier to reinvestment and redevelopment. As a result, the City had limited economic and cultural investment in the downtown core. The former Young’s Warehouse property was identified in the Johnson City Downtown Drainage and Redevelopment Project as property which could be used to provide relief for flooding. Historic uses of the property included a former gas station, tire retreading facility, bulk petroleum storage and a dry cleaner.
The City worked in collaboration with TDEC’s Division of Remediation staff to develop a plan to address contaminated soils, left by previous industrial uses, ensuring that the reuse of the property would be safe for the citizens who would enjoy the future park. As a result of the cooperation shown in this project, Johnson City was able to transform this downtown property to not only address flooding, but also create public greenspace by building a five-acre greenway and park along the new creek bank.
Founder’s Park and the adjacent Farmer’s Market, a $2.8 million, 5-acre greenspace and flood mitigation project on the west side of downtown, were completed in 2014. The park hosts a 200-seat amphitheater area on the east side, allowing for concerts and performances, and a “great lawn” on the west side, allowing for everything from sports, events, and festivals to take place. Since its completion, Founder’s Park has sparked redevelopment in the downtown area by developing a sustainable greenspace for community activities and bringing flood control improvements to an area historically affected by flooding.
The Gulch
The Gulch, located in Nashville, TN, is currently an urban mixed-use neighborhood in the downtown area encompassing more than 60 acres. The Gulch got its name from its roots as a bustling railroad yard dating back before the Civil War, which included a roundhouse (where rail cars were repaired), a coal yard and paint shop in subsequent years. In 1956, commuter rail service was discontinued in Nashville and by 1979, passenger rail ceased entirely. The Gulch was a victim of neglect and became a shattered neighborhood. In 1999, a group of private investors and developers purchased 25 acres and created a master plan for the neighborhood.
TDEC’s Division of Remediation staff worked with several key properties and property owners to complete Voluntary Brownfields Agreements, and assisted with the revitalization of these properties. Today, The Gulch is a vibrant urban district and a popular local destination for shopping, dining, and entertainment. The Gulch is the only neighborhood in Nashville governed by a privately-controlled land use master plan and is home to Nashville’s only business improvement district outside the downtown Central Business District. In 2007, The Gulch was one of 240 projects worldwide selected to apply for the United States Green Building Council’s LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED ND) pilot program. In 2009, The Gulch became the first LEED ND Certified green neighborhood in the southeastern United States and only the fourth Silver Certified neighborhood in the world. With this distinction, The Gulch has earned international recognition for excellence incorporating the principles of smart growth, urbanism and sustainability.
Productive Use
TDEC, through the Division of Remediation, works extremely hard to return Tennessee acreage into either green space and/or space that will add to the existing economy. With more than 3,800 acres of brownfield/voluntary properties being put back into productive use since 2010, it is clear that thriving communities, environmental justice, and Tennessee’s landscape are of the utmost importance to the Division.
Alle Crampton is an Environmental Scientist with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) Office of Policy and Sustainable Practices. Her responsibilities include working on TDEC’s Environmental Education Initiative, and serving as the primary contact for topics related to sustainability in K through 12 schools in Tennessee. Alle’s prior experience includes composting agricultural waste, bio-repository efficiency and animal science. Alle became interested in sustainability in college. Since starting her career with TDEC, she has developed an interest in creating educational materials and providing opportunities that assist with increasing environmental literacy across the state. Alle can be reached at (615) 253-1729 or e-mail [email protected].