State, Tribal, and Local Success Stories

Community Health Projects at Brownfield/Land Reuse Sites

Past Successful Cooperative Agreement Funding Projects

Purpose:

ATSDR's mission is to serve the public through responsive public health actions to promote healthy and safe environments and prevent harmful exposures to environmental contaminants. Sites such as Brownfield/Land Reuse sites may be the source of potentially harmful exposures because of contamination from previous property uses. Addressing public health concerns and issues related to the restoration of contaminated properties is essential.

From 2008 – 2015 ATSDR funded community health projects that were robust in demonstrating how public health is an integral part of the land reuse process. Average awards for these projects were $150,000 for a one-year project. These projects aimed to increase capacity among states, tribes, health agencies, and local governments to identify, address, and improve public health in redeveloping Land Reuse sites, ensuring that particular attention was paid to identifying and addressing health issues prior to redevelopment and assessing changes in community health associated with reuse plans and redevelopment. These community health projects that addressed impacts of contamination at Land Reuse sites furthered ATSDR's public health mission to promote healthy and safe environments and prevent harmful exposures.

Approach:

The funded projects integrated the ATSDR Community Health Project (CHP) Logic Model. The CHP Logic Model depicts how the problem statement, purpose, outcomes, and strategy of each project are interrelated.

Most Community Health Projects included one or more of the following:

• Developing stronger stakeholder partnerships and capacity in the Development Community to leverage additional expertise, tools, resources, and relationships to promote the success of the project and/or program.
• Planning for actions to address issues identified at local and state level Evaluation of health risk from environmental contaminant exposures at Brownfield/Land Reuse sites.
• Identifying community health status indicators (pre- and post-development).
• Developing inventories of current land reuse sites, including associated potential health risks of exposure to contaminants at these sites, former site uses, citizen complaints, accidental releases.
• Developing stronger stakeholder partnerships and capacity in the Development Community to leverage additional expertise, tools, resources, and relationships to promote the success of the project.
• Engaging underrepresented populations in Brownfield/Land Reuse efforts through culturally specific and culturally competent approaches.
• Evaluating health risk from environmental contaminant exposures at Brownfield/Land Reuse sites.
• Developing risk communication and/or health education programs related to environmental hazards associated with Brownfield/Land Reuse sites or health status of the community.
• Designing programs to assist communities in implementing new programs focused on land revitalization activities associated with areas impacted by environmental hazards associated with one or more Brownfield/Land Reuse sites.
• Integrating equity through the inclusion of social justice, social determinants of health, and vulnerable populations into Brownfield/Land Reuse planning, environmental assessment and sampling, and site use after redevelopment.
• Assessing residual contamination at Brownfield/Land Reuse sites before, during, or after redevelopment.
• Creating measurable, short-term intervention strategies focused on Brownfield/Land Reuse sites.
• Utilizing geospatial analysis maps to characterize land reuse sites and associated health risks and connect the community to available services.

Leading Change for Healthy Communities and Successful Land Reuse (Nov 2010)

Leading Change for Healthy Communities and Successful Land Reuse is a series of case studies or "success stories" showing redevelopment to achieve a variety of health-related goals: recreation/greenspace; quality, affordable housing; access to health care, community policing, and other services; education; revitalization of tribal lands; and new jobs and economic development to benefit the community. Each case study tells a story of how community health was successfully integrated into brownfields redevelopment and land reuse, highlighting key elements such as leadership, financing and other resources tapped, stakeholder involvement, actions taken, measures of success, and lessons learned.

Leading Change Case Studies

• From Waste Site to Thriving Neighborhood—Kenosha, Wisconsin
• From Abandoned Gas Station to Community Health Center—Clearwater, Florida
• From Polluted Flood Plain to Thriving Greenway—Jefferson County, Alabama
• From Run-Down Public Housing Complex to Safe, Sustainable Community—Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• From Century-Old "No Man's Land" to Healthy Hub for Outdoor Activity—L'Anse Indian Reservation, Michigan
• From Sprawling Urban Junkyard to Sustainable, Thriving Industry—Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• From Drug-Related Crime to National Honor Society—Raleigh, North Carolina
• From Meth Lab to Art and Education Center for Youth—Boise, Idaho
• From Contamination to Health — Without Breaking the Bank—Alaska and Yukon