Brownfields Success Stories

For Developers in Niagara Falls, the Honeymoon's Just Beginning

The EPA Brownfields Pilot awarded to Niagara Falls in May 1997 is using both traditional and innovative techniques to restore the city's blighted properties. In addition to cataloguing and performing environmental assessments on area brownfields, the Pilot is facilitating agreements between developers and the city to minimize risks and eliminate barriers to progress. In the predominantly low-income, minority Highland Avenue neighborhood, the Pilot has inventoried and characterized brownfields sites, conducted assessments, and involved the community in setting redevelopment priorities. A neighborhood steering committee made up of 20 neighborhood residents met monthly to help guide Pilot activities and create a brownfields reuse plan for the neighborhood. The first assessments funded by the Pilot were performed in August 1998 on a 5.5-acre portion of the 88-acre former Union Carbide site. The assessments revealed minimal contamination under a parking lot and asbestos in two dilapidated buildings with crumbling roofs, which required removal. Following renovations, high-tech manufacturer Standard Ceramics purchased the site for $30,000 and relocated six employees to this new location. The company invested $659,000 to completely renovate two of the property's three buildings. They hired 12 local residents to work at the site and anticipate hiring more in the future. Plans are underway for the Pilot to fund additional assessments that will help further the city's economic revitalization of more than 100 acres that are potentially available for redevelopment. For more information on the Niagara Falls Brownfields Pilot, contact Sherrel Henry at (212) 637-4273.