Abandoned gas stations and dry cleaners, railroad properties, factories, and closed military bases all may leave toxins in the land. No one knows exactly how many “brownfields” there are in the United States, but estimates range from 400,000 to more than a million, according to the NBA.
A brownfield is defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as “a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.”
Brownfields can be significant hazards to ecological systems, water quality, soil quality, and human health.
One company that is dedicated to cleaning up these toxic sites is Kleinfelder, based in San Diego, Calif. CEO Bill Siegel said 40 percent of their work is environmental—planning new projects and cleaning up old sites.
“We're dealing with past generations' issues,” he said.
A 200-mile stretch of the Hudson River is one such example. As much as 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were discharged into the river by General Electric’s capacitor manufacturing plants over a period of 30 years beginning in 1947.
PCBs accumulate in humans through eating contaminated fish. They are considered probable human carcinogens and are linked to other adverse health effects such as low birth weight, thyroid disease, and learning, memory, and immune system disorders, according to the EPA. PCBs in the river sediment also affect fish and wildlife.
“As humans we have to realize we impact with everything we do,” Siegel said. He said the man-made chemicals such as PCBs are the worst, and most difficult, to clean up. These “chemicals of concern” have an incredibly long life, he said.
His creative staff employ natural solutions wherever possible, he said. Hogs’ manure was used in a bio-remediation process that cleaned up chemicals (perchlorates) from an old fireworks factory. Phytoremediation is also used, where plants are planted to draw toxins from the ground, then cut and incinerated.
The most common chemicals Kleinfelder cleans up are the hydrocarbon family—petroleum and oil. Microbes in the soil will eventually take care of these chemicals, but with large quantities in the earth, it's a long process, he said. To speed up the work of the microbes, oxygen is then injected into the earth.
A new fully computerized filing system will eventually track approximately 15 million pages of historical environmental reports for more than 35,000 sites around the country. The program, called eDEP, was launched by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection in February and will help provide citizens with access to cleanup records.
With $111 billion in the stimulus package tagged for infrastructure—depending on definition—many states will be able to balance their infrastructure budgets. However, the stimulus funds are “not enough to meet the needs of U.S. infrastructure,” Siegel said. “The beauty of infrastructure is that it creates jobs now and creates jobs in the future.”
