Report urges incentives to develop 'brownfields'

A report prepared for the federal government, released Monday, suggest ways to encourage development of contaminated urban land.

In its 2001 budget, the government gave the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) the task of coming up with a strategy to deal with what are known as brownfields.

They're former industrial sites that often remain vacant because developers are scared off by the hazardous waste that's been left behind.

• RELATED LINK: Cleaning up the Past, Building the Future: the report from NRTEE

Brownfields not only take up valuable urban space, they also pose a potential health risk, says Bea Olivastri, executive director of the environmental group Friends of the Earth (Canada).

"Whether it's lead or benzene or hydrocarbons, just to name three possibilities, these are contaminants that are very negative in terms of human health, particularly if you're dealing with children," she says.

An estimated 30,000 brownfields have been identified across the country. Many are in prime locations, such as some waterfront property in Cornwall, Ont.

Cornwall community activist Chuck Charlebois says the waterfront should be a place for people. "I don't see it as empty, I see it as full," he says. "I see it filled with families, I see young people living and working."

One of the most prominent in Ottawa is LeBreton Flats, currently being cleaned up with federal money to make way for the new home of the Canadian War Museum.

"For every one LeBreton, there are a thousand other sites that are not going to be cleaned up by a public authority," says NRTEE president David McGuinty.

Aside from LeBreton, the federal government has so far failed to take brownfield redevelopment seriously, says Ottawa councillor Clive Doucet.

"The federal government controls large chunks of our downtown brownfields, Rockcliffe Air Force Base is another, huge tract of land which is blowing in the breeze while we're developing lands at the south end of Barrhaven. It's nutzoid."

Doucet says redeveloping brownfields is necessary for the city to sustain the population growth expected over the next 20 years.

The advisory body's report will include recommendations for government loans and grants, as well as tax incentives to encourage brownfield redevelopment.

The NRTEE report doesn't spell out how much it would cost municipal, provincial and federal governments to implement the strategy. But it does say redeveloped sites could generate up to $7 billion a year.

"We believe all three orders of government are going to get way more money back in tax revenue than it will cost them, even over the long term," says McGuinty.

NRTEE says a major obstacle to development is "an inconsistent and uncertain legal liability regime" for developers considering a project on these sites.

Its report calls for some protection for developers from lawsuits if they buy and clean up contaminated sites.

The report also recommends a fast-tracked approval process and access to technology that would make it easier for communities to get their brownfield sites redeveloped.