![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Making the Program Faster, Fairer, and More Efficient (Continued)
4-1 | 4-2 | 4-3 | 4-4 | 4-5 | 4-6 | 4-7 | 4-8 | 4-9 | 4-10 | 4-11 | 4-12 | 4-13 | 4-14 | 4-15 | 4-16 | 4-17
ENCOURAGING ECONOMIC REDEVELOPMENT
Many people have the feeling that if an area becomes contaminated with toxic waste, it will be a toxic wasteland forever. It may be cleaned up, it may be safe, but the best that can happen after the Superfund label of environmental contamination is placed on the property is for it to be fenced off, becoming a permanent economic blemish on a community.
But that perception is incorrect. Hundreds of contaminated properties have been cleaned up and turned into office parks, industrial centers, shopping centers, residential areas, tourist centers, and wetlands. Sites that were once abandoned or underused have now become valuable community resources. Areas that once helped to drag the local economy down are now generating new tax revenue creating jobs and serving as catalysts for broader revitalization.
Successful reuse of once-contaminated properties is happening all over the country. Communities and EPA; developers and State officials; local political leaders and large corporations -- all are joining together as partners to make reuse happen.
