Stevens hosts Brownfield redevelopment meeting
HOBOKEN, N.J. — On June 13, Stevens Institute of Technology hosted a meeting to discuss present and future plans for Brownfield redevelopment in the Hudson County area.
Brownfields are sites within commercial or industrial areas presumed to be in need of environmental cleanup. June 13th was the first Brownfield redevelopment meeting to be held at Stevens. The institute is involved with various regional reclamation projects through the Stevens Center for Environmental Engineering and works as a liaison with local municipalities through Dr. Silvio Laccetti, Stevens professor of urban studies.
Brownfield redevelopment is a relatively recent, complex and dynamic area of public policy. Governments at all levels — local, state and federal — have been grappling with the perplexing issues of liability, environmental cleanup, and cost posed by Brownfield reclamation, and have taken steps to resolve them.
In attendance at Stevens were local representatives of the Kearny, Harrison, North Bergen and Hoboken areas as well as state representatives from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and a federal representative from the Environmental Protection Agency. The Hudson County Brownfields chairperson, Elizabeth Spinelli, and representatives from Stevens was also present. Spinelli is the executive director of the Hudson County Economic Development Corporation.
Participants at the meeting reviewed the status of "active sites" in the area and discussed plans (pilot programs) to help remediate these sites. Pilot programs, also known as cooperative agreements, assist communities by providing the necessary monies in the form of grants to help identify, inventory, assess, clean up and continue to redevelop Brownfields. Integration of privately owned sites into the pilot programs was also discussed.
Participants also provided updates on various outreach activities and information on a conference titled Brownfields 2000, a four-day event/information session set for Oct. 10-13. Brownfields 2000 will attempt to tap into both national and international research efforts as well as successful regional strategies in order to give conference attendees solid groundwork to facilitate revitalization efforts in their respective communities.
As part of the June 13th meeting a Stevens, the Hudson County Brownfields group announced that its Brownfield Assessment Demonstration Pilot Program has received a statewide award in Environmental Excellence Award in the open and effective government category. The award was presented to the group recently by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Robert C. Shinn, Jr.
Environmental Excellence Awards were presented by the New Jersey DEP for the first time this year.
About Stevens Institute of Technology
Founded in 1870 and celebrating 140 Years of Innovation, Stevens Institute of Technology, The Innovation University TM , lives at the intersection of industry, academics and research. The University's students, faculty and partners leverage their collective real-world experience and culture of innovation, research and entrepreneurship to confront global challenges in engineering, science, systems and technology management.
Based in Hoboken, N.J. and with a location in Washington, D.C., Stevens offers baccalaureate, master’s, certificates and doctoral degrees in engineering, the sciences and management, in addition to baccalaureate degrees in business and liberal arts. Stevens has been recognized by both the US Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Excellence in the areas of systems engineering and port security research. The University has a total enrollment of more than 2,200 undergraduate and 3,700 graduate students with almost 450 faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America as well as strategic partnerships with industry leaders, governments and other universities around the world. Additional information may be obtained at www.stevens.edu and www.stevens.edu/press.
