Sustainable Land Development Today - September 2008 - (Page 41)

Sustainable opportunities Brownfields often provide other opportunities for creative and sustainable solutions. The only thing left behind by the fire on this site was a six-acre slab foundation where industrial buildings formerly sat. The new retail store needed a new foundation, which required a large amount of structural fill to support it. Instead of importing structural fill, the project team decided to break up and re-use the old concrete slab for that purpose. This not only avoided the economic and environmental costs of importing fill, but eliminated the need to send the old contaminated slab material to a landfill. Keeping historic materials on site is a cost-effective way to reduce the environmental footprint of a brownfield redevelopment project. portant consideration. Brownfields projects benefit the economic and social bottom lines of communities by returning unused and often dangerous properties to productive use. Brownfields projects benefit the environmental bottom line by addressing environmental contamination and making the best use of properties that might otherwise be considered unusable. They also offer an alternative to developing new properties, where no development has taken place, which helps limit sprawl and keeps stores and jobs closer to downtown. SLDT About the author: Steve Holtman is a Senior Vice President and Principal Engineer for Woodard & Curran. He has over 25 years of environmental engineering experience including site investigation and remediation, property redevelopment, wastewater treatment, and landfill construction projects. For more information on the firm visit: www.woodardcurran.com. Stormwater Management Systems Expect the unexpected It may be cliché, but in the case of brownfield projects it is certainly true: no matter how thorough the initial environmental investigations are, there will be some unpleasant surprises. Putting a strong team in place and having clear roles defined will help deal with unanticipated problems. You may not know what waits under the surface of the site, but there will almost always be something you didn’t anticipate. Having a plan in place for dealing with these challenges can be the difference between costly delays and timely action. Sharing the rewards The July 2007 opening of the Target store was seen by city officials as an integral part of reshaping the city’s economy by providing jobs, adding to the tax base, and attracting visitors and other businesses to the area. The store has been a huge commercial success and is viewed as a great environmental success as well. In August 2007 Governor M. Jodi Rell chose the Target Ansonia site as the backdrop for the ceremonial signing of the new Connecticut Brownfields Act, citing the project as a model for future brownfields development in the state. Sustainability is not just about the environment, although that is a hugely im- Our Product Line Includes: ° Detention Protect downstream channels from erosion. • Recharge Preserve existing ground water table elevation. • Infiltration Temporarily store WQv allowing infiltration into soil. • Filtration Remove 80% TSS, nutrients, hydrocarbons and trace metals. • Separation Remove suspended solids, free floating oil and debris. www.rotondo-es.com Circle 195 • or www.SLDTonline.com/webcard www.SLDTonline.com 41 http://www.woodardcurran.com http://www.rotondo-es.com http://www.rotondo-es.com http://www.SLDTonline.com/webcard http://www.SLDTonline.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sustainable Land Development Today - September 2008

Sustainable Land Development Today - September 2008 Contents Our Voice The Bottomline Editorial Board SLDT Resources Digging Deep Oases of Capital Build a Better Business on an Interactive, Virtual Landscape Regulation SLDI in Focus �� SLDI Sponsored Summit �� Workshops �� Bookstore Tee’d Up for Sustainability Retention Solutions Wastewater Redevelopment Industry News Marketplace Products/Services Showcase Advertiser Index The Last Word

Sustainable Land Development Today - September 2008

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