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Brownfields summit to explore potential

By Matt Glynn
NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER
October 1, 2010

[View Buffalo Niagara Brownfields]

From the Steel Winds wind turbines site in Lackawanna to the BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York complex in downtown Buffalo, the region has found ways to make productive properties out of its brownfields.

The fourth annual Canadian-U.S. Brownfield Summit, planned in Buffalo next week, will explore the connection among cleaning up former industrial sites on the waterfront, redevelopment and "right-sizing" cities in the United States and Canada.

The two-day conference, hosted by the National Brownfield Association, starts Wednesday in the Embassy Suites at the Avant building.

David P. Flynn, a Phillips Lytle attorney whose practice is focused on environmental law, said the summit will delve into brownfield issues the United States and Canada have in common, particularly related to the Great Lakes.

"It's looking at redeveloping in existing city footprints," he said.

Flynn, who will moderate one of the panel discussions, said one issue facing communities is the impact of cleaning up urban waterways, such as the Buffalo River. Once that type of cleanup is complete, he said, interest tends to grow in using the properties that line the waterway.

One of the conference sessions will be a mayors' round-table discussion, with several mayors from the United States and Canada invited to participate.
In a region like Buffalo Niagara with a long industrial history, reusing brownfields has become a key economic development topic.

Steel Winds revived a portion of a former Bethlehem Steel site, while the BlueCross BlueShield project was built on the former Buffalo Gasworks site. At the Buffalo-Lackawanna border, brownfields were reborn as Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park, a business park with multiple tenants.

Another brownfield revival is taking shape in South Buffalo, where the Western New York Railway Historical Society has plans to open a museum on property that was part of the old Buffalo Color Corp. site.

About 100 to 125 people are expected to attend next week's brownfields conference. For more information, visit www.brownfieldassociation.org.