Contact:
Chriss Swaney
Carnegie Mellon University
412-268-5776

Angelo Terrana
Rep. Melissa Hart's Office
202-226-9618

For immediate release:
August 14, 2006

Carnegie Mellon University Brownfields Workshop To Feature U.S. EPA Director Stephen L. Johnson

PITTSBURGH—Stephen L. Johnson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will help kick off a Carnegie Mellon University brownfields workshop at 9 a.m. today (Aug. 14) at the Ambridge Regional Distribution and Manufacturing Center at 2301 Duss Ave. in Ambridge, Pa. The workshop is designed to showcase the region's success in converting old, blighted industrial properties into thriving commercial developments.

Johnson, named the 11th administrator of the EPA in May 2005, will open the workshop with a discussion on the future of brownfields and the need for combining sound science with innovative approaches to solve environmental problems. The EPA director will be joined by Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon; Pradeep K. Khosla, dean of the College of Engineering; and U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart (R-Bradford Woods). Both Hart and Cohon were instrumental in creating the new Western Pennsylvania Brownfields Center, which serves as a resource for local communities and acts as a vehicle to enhance the growth of brownfields cleanup and development in western Pennsylvania.

The Carnegie Mellon brownfields workshop is designed to encourage communities and small businesses to address issues relating to eliminating development barriers and taking advantage of opportunities for continued development, Cohon said.

"Solutions for brownfields are complex and multidisciplinary, and there is a wealth of experience in western Pennsylvania," said Deborah A. Lange, director of the Western Pennsylvania Brownfields Center and the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research (SEER). The brownfields center was created with a $200,000 Small Business Administration grant.

Brownfields are abandoned, dormant and underused industrial or commercial properties with either actual or perceived environmental contamination that could deter expansion or redevelopment. Hart has introduced several pieces of legislation designed to entice more creative uses of brownfields.

"The Pittsburgh region has been a leader in developing its old brownfields, and Ambridge is a great example of that effort," Hart said. "The Ambridge Regional Distribution and Manufacturing Center, where we are speaking today, is a great example of this region's commitment to reusing brownfields."

In the past two years, $1.3 million has been pumped into improving the aesthetics of the 85-acre Ambridge site, formerly home to Armco Seamless Pipe Co., according to Value Ambridge Properties Inc., a division of Value Properties of New York City.

As with most Rust Belt regions, Ambridge's riverfronts were once home to mills and warehouses. In the past several years, the Northern Ambridge Redevelopment Project has also received state and federal funds to clean up 60 acres of a former industrial site. More than $4 million in state grants and loans and some $250,000 in federal funds have been pumped into redeveloping the 12-block former brownfield site, according to the Redevelopment Authority of Beaver County.

"Carnegie Mellon is working with brownfield stakeholders to create decision support tools that expedite development and return old industrial sites to the local economy," Khosla said.

Other workshop participants include Ron Littlefield, mayor of Chattanooga, Tenn.; Dewitt Peart, vice president of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development; Jesse Silverstein, executive director of the Colorado Brownfield Foundation; Bill Muzychko, director of the New York office of McRoberts, Roberts & Rainer LLP; and Maureen Ford, vice president of Colliers Penn.