The Negative Side Of Brownfield Development

The cleanup of brownfields such as the factory in Attleboro has become one of the federal government's most popular environmental programs.

But as legislators have poured more than $400 million into a program that helps them deliver visible improvements to districts, some environmentalists have voiced concern that it's coming at a price: While spending on brownfields grows, the government falls further behind in cleaning up sites that carry far more health risks but fewer commercial prospects.

...According to the report, contamination at hundreds of Superfund sites nationwide, including 15 industrial zones and landfills in New England, has not been brought under control.

In contrast, the federal brownfields program, which began as an offshoot of Superfund in 1993 for less polluted sites, has been growing steadily. In 2002, President Bush signed the first law reserving funds specifically for brownfields, which injected hundreds of millions of dollars into the program.

Thanks to Ashwani Vasishth