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ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEY UPDATE ARTICLES
PHILADELPHIA JUMPS ONTO THE
LAND RECYCLING BANDWAGON
Mayor Edward G. Rendell in late March accepted a $900,000 grant from the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the remediation of the former Sovereign Oil
site located in the American Street Enterprise and Empowerment Zone. This was
the first state grant intended for the remedial work received by the City. Also
highlighted during the event were the City's increasing Brownfields
redevelopment activities and its active pursuit of funding under the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Land Recycling Program.
The Mayor noted the steps that the City has taken to ensure the future
redevelopment of contaminated land throughout Philadelphia. Late last year, the
City established a multi-agency Brownfields Task Force headed by the
Commerce Department, which has identified more than 40 properties for future
redevelopment. The group is prioritizing sites on the basis of their redevelopment
potential and the availability and qualification for state and federal funding.
Furthermore, the City has proposed a line item in its FY99 Capital Budget of
$150,000 specifically for local matches to federal and state Brownfield funds for
sites throughout the City. Finally, in a departure from past practice, the City is
aggressively seeking site control for cleanup of targeted properties. The City has
already obtained sites for such purposes in the American Street and West
Philadelphia Empowerment Zones and in Southwest Philadelphia and is in
negotiations with end users for each of these properties. The Mayor outlined
these three sites that serve as showcases for future Brownfields activity in the
City.
The first project combines two abandoned properties in the 2000 block of South
71st Street. In February, the City procured one of the parcels which has been
abandoned since 1986. The proposed end user is in the process of acquiring the
other. The City is working with a growing Philadelphia manufacturing business
to retain its current workforce of 70, and build a new manufacturing facility
costing close to one million dollars that would add 30 new jobs.
Further along in the process are two adjacent vacant properties at the corner of
Merion and Girard Avenues. Both are located within the State-designated West
Parkside Enterprise Zone and the federal Empowerment Zone. The City is
working to complete a deal with a Philadelphia-based company to build a call
center costing more than two million dollars that would employ over 100 people
from the neighborhood.
The third project, largest in scope of the three discussed, was the former
Sovereign Oil site abandoned since 1990 after an oil spill shut down the plant.
The lot once contained a used oil and antifreeze recycling facility. The City is
finalizing a deal with a Philadelphia company hat will remediate and cap the site
and build a new $3.5 million food warehouse and distribution facility that will
ultimately employ more than 70 people. It is anticipated that the remediation will
commerce this Spring.
Each project represents a different stage of the state's process for receiving
funding for either environmental assessments or remediation. Director of
Commerce Stephen P. Mullin stated that, "These projects demonstrate that the
City is willing to take on risk by taking title to the contaminated properties. The
potential economic benefit to the City far outweighs any potential downsides."
He also noted that, unlike other areas of the State, most of Philadelphia's
Brownfields sites are smaller industrial properties that are difficult to market. In
two of the three projects, the City assembled multiple parcels to make them more
attractive for development.
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