Bridging Brownfield Borders

By Ed Charlton

I had the recent pleasure of attending the NBA’s first International Brownfield Summit in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Having attended this event, I can see why it was called “Bridging Brownfield Borders.”

As the event went on, it became increasingly clear that Canada’s provinces view brownfields quite differently than many of the U.S. states. This difference in viewpoint can be articulated in the following questions:
1. Are brownfields a problem or an opportunity? More specifically, do brownfields have economic and/or societal value, or are they purely an environmental issue?
2. Are all stakeholders engaged in tackling the issue of brownfields and their responsible redevelopment (e.g., owners, purchasers, municipal government, state/provincial government, federal government, environmental regulators, government infrastructure ministers and community citizens)?
3. Do environmental regulators see their role in brownfield management as “enforcer” or as “facilitator,” to protect and enhance the environment through the responsible redevelopment of brownfields?

It’s apparent to me that Canada (and more specifically, its provinces) has an excellent opportunity to capitalize on the experience and learnings of our U.S. neighbors. The U.S. has several states that have made the responsible redevelopment of brownfields a priority through liability relief programs and various financial incentives for owners and purchasers of brownfield properties.

In this regard, it is noteworthy that a 2000 study on the private sector perspective on the costs and risks associated with brownfield redevelopment in the greater Toronto area identified the liability issue as the most severe obstacle to brownfield redevelopment. It also emphasized high remediation costs and the inefficiency of regulatory mechanisms as severe obstacles.

From what I saw at the Brownfield Summit in Niagara Falls, some states have tackled these obstacles head on, and are now reaping the successes of their hard fought efforts. While a few of Canada’s provinces have made some progress through legislative changes to encourage responsible brownfield redevelopment, there’s significantly more that needs to be done. The good news is the solutions to Canada’s “brownfield ills” are already present in prototype form in other jurisdictions, such as New York and Michigan.

So why isn’t Canada more quickly following the United States’ lead in responsible redevelopment of brownfields? I believe the challenge facing some of Canada’s provinces stems from the fact that environmental regulators are not motivated to be fiscally responsible in their decisions. Rather, they focus purely on the real and perceived environmental and potential human health impacts that brownfields may have.

I further believe the Canadian public is not sufficiently educated on the societal costs of brownfields beyond environment and human health concerns. Nor is it sensitive to the growing urgency for Canada to deal with its brownfields in order to capitalize on much-needed environmental, societal and economic benefits. (Such as reduction of development pressure on greenfield sites, renewal of urban cores and the quality of life in them, and attraction of domestic and foreign investment, to name just a few.)

So Where Do We Go from Here?

I think education is the solution, and those of us involved in the Canadian brownfield industry have an important role to play. We must make a concerted effort at every opportunity to educate everyone around us: our work colleagues, our friends, our families and our neighbors.

We need to ensure we’re aware of — and fluent in — the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy’s “Brownfield Redevelopment Strategy for Canada,” which was published in 2003. Finally, and probably most importantly, we need Canada’s provincial environmental regulators to change their approach from one of enforcement to one of facilitation.

It will only be through cooperation and the reduction or removal of punitive threats that owners and developers of brownfield properties will come together and contribute to society once again.

In closing, the comments of John Stevens on the second day of the summit were so succinct and correct, they warrant repeating. John said, “Canada has a national strategy on the environment and the economy. I would encourage the provincial regulators to assess this strategy against their day-to-day practices, identify gaps, and get cracking on closing the gaps!”

I believe John’s comments accurately reflect what it will take to “bridge the brownfield border” that currently exists between Canada and the U.S.

Ed Charlton is property manager at Devon Estates Limited, a subsidiary of Imperial Oil Limited, in Toronto, Ont. Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and not Imperial Oil, the National Brownfield Association or Brownfield News.