Frequently Asked Questions

What is a brownfield?
A brownfield is an abandoned or underused piece of land where redevelopment and reuse is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. Brownfields are especially common in New York's older industrial cities and towns.

Brownfields blight communities and pose both health threats and obstacles to economic redevelopment. Unused urban land is a fiscal burden because it is unproductive in terms of job creation, revenue generation or contribution to the tax base. Brownfields cause huge revenue losses for municipal governments. Local governments are understandably reluctant to take ownership of brownfields because of the possible liabilities associated with contamination.

How is a brownfield site different from a Superfund site?
Brownfields are usually less contaminated and are not on state or federal superfund lists. The Superfund and Brownfield programs cover sites that are officially listed as posing a "significant threat" to public health or the environment. Because brownfields tend to be smaller and less contaminated, and because their former polluting owners tend to be absent or insolvent, brownfields do not lend themselves to the Superfund-style approach to cleanup, which relies on enforcement to recover cleanup costs from responsible parties.

What is the extent of the brownfield problem?
Because inventories haven't been conducted in most cities and towns, the exact number of brownfields is unknown, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that there are at least 450,000 sites in the country. New York City has over 6,500 brownfield sites and Long Island has nearly 7,000. The six cities in the mid-Hudson Valley have identified at least 200 brownfields and there are over 300 sites in the Capital Region (Albany, Troy, and Schenectady). Rochester and Syracuse each have several hundred brownfield sites, and Buffalo reports that about 40 percent of the land in the city is comprised of brownfields. All told, it is believed that there are tens of thousands of brownfields in New York State.

Source: Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development

Why do environmentalists care about brownfields?
Brownfields pose a number of environmental problems:

Toxic exposure: : While there are usually some toxics present, most brownfields have not been subject to investigation, so the extent of the danger is not known. We just don't know which sites may present a health risk to those who live, play or work on or around them. The potential threat is of particular concern where children may be playing and when the site is located near homes, but toxics from contaminated sites may also move through the soil, seep into groundwater or volatilize into the air to contaminate a wider area. Contamination can also spread beyond site boundaries when surface soil is stirred up by wind or human activity.

Urban environmental health: Urban communities, particularly low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, are especially at risk from a barrage of environmental insults, and brownfield sites are disproportionately located in their midst. Failure to address the brownfield problem represents tacit acceptance of the environmental injustices that plague our cities.

Sprawl and open space: Because brownfields undermine the social and economic vitality of the communities they burden, contributing to blight and depressing property values, they fuel the residential, commercial and industrial exodus from our cities. For this reason, brownfield redevelopment is a key element of smart growth. Encouraging environmental cleanups and new construction in urban areas relieves development pressure on outlying greenfields, usually farmland and woodlands, and reduces sprawl development.  

What can be done about brownfields?
New York State has adopted a Brownfield program designed to attract developers by offering incentives for cleaning and redeveloping these properties. The program provides up to $15 million annually in grants and loans to communities who pursue brownfield revitalization plans, and offers tax credits worth $135 million a year to developers of brownfields. Technical Assistance Grants of up to $50,000 are available to qualifying community groups to obtain independent technical assistance for significant threat brownfield sites. Site cleanup is also promoted through the provision of liability relief for innocent (non-polluting) parties, including private and public property owners, developers and lenders.

For more information, visit: NYSDEC Brownfield Cleanup Program