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Superfund Mondel
Airplae Zones
U.K.
Index Says Brownfields Profitable
Meth Lab Cleanup
Superfund Model
Airplane Zones
The U.S. EPA’s Office of Superfund Remediation & Technology Innovation
has agreed to permit the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) to use reclaimed
Superfund sites for model airplane meets. In return, the hobbyist organization
will mow and otherwise maintain those portions of the sites.
The EPA will determine which sites match the AMA’s desired physical characteristics and are most appropriate for the academy’s use. The resulting listed sites will be made available for further development. Click here for more information.
U.K. Index Says Brownfields
Profitable
The myth that property markets in U.K. regeneration areas are less profitable
than in traditional development has been shattered by the publication of a pilot
Urban Regeneration Index.
The index, compiled by Investment Property Databank (IPD), shows that long-term returns from commercial properties in urban regeneration areas have performed broadly in line with the wider U.K. market since 1995, and in the short term, most of these properties have out-performed other areas.
It found that the short-term urban regeneration areas averaged total returns of 11.02 percent over the last three years, compared to 9.1 percent for the U.K. market as a whole. In the long term, returns were 11.2 percent per year, compared to an average of 11.4 percent between 1995 and 2003.
The research is a boost to regeneration bodies seeking to attract private finance
and will be used to track the performance of property in regeneration areas
that are benefiting from public and private investment.
BFN
Excerpted
with permission from the Green Building Press.
Meth Lab Cleanup
The National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) and National Apartment Association
(NAA) called on Congress to develop mandatory remediation standards for cleaning
up former methamphetamine labs. Without such science-based standards, property
owners are liable for cleaning up residual contamination even though there are
no appropriate cleanup standards.
In written testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee, NMHC/NAA indicated their support for the Methamphetamine Remediation Research Act of 2005 (H.R. 798), which was debated at a committee hearing March 3. The bill would direct the U.S. EPA to develop remediation guidelines in cooperation with the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The manufacture of illicit methamphetamine (meth) in makeshift, clandestine laboratories is a growing concern throughout the U.S. In 1993 the Drug Enforcement Administration seized 218 meth labs. By 2004, there were nearly 16,000 illegal labs operating in 49 states. Small and highly mobile, illegal meth labs can be located on any type of property.
NMHC/NAA’s testimony also called on Congress to encourage the development of improved ways to detect illegal drug labs.
“Meth manufacturers are becoming more adept at hiding their activity using new and reportedly, odorless processes,” explained NMHC/NAA’s Vice President of Environment, Eileen Lee. “Since meth contamination may be imperceptible to the naked eye, there is an essential need for rapid and reliable detection protocols.”
“The development of cleanup guidelines and standardized decontamination practices for meth labs will protect property owners, residents and remediation professionals by providing a clear foundation for the remediation of affected properties,” explained Lee. Click here to read the testimony. BFN