A.G. to hold hearing on brownfields cleanups

LYNN – Attorney General Martha Coakley will point to Lynn at a public hearing in May when she discusses ways to make it easier for communities to clean up their dirtiest hazardous waste sites.Coakley is hosting three hearings across the state on proposed reforms to “brownfields” contamination cleanup regulations, including one at noon on May 5 in the City Council Chamber.She wants to streamline the so-called Brownfields Covenant created as part of the sweeping law passed in 1997 to clean up contaminated properties.The 30 properties cleaned up across the state under the Covenant’s guidelines include the Empire Laundry site in West Lynn. Homes were built on the contaminated land and other brownfields sites have become the locations of commercial buildings and parks.Revere secured a $200,000 federal brownfields grant this week to pay for cleaning up locomotive oil on land next to Wonderland station. The “Parcel H” site will be cleaned in 2009 after the commuter drop off lane on the station’s ocean side is relocated adjacent to North Shore Road.”Brownfields redevelopment is an important part of our economic development; it allows us to make our communities cleaner and safer, and contribute to smart growth in the already-developed areas of the state,” said Coakley. “By making the process for acquiring Brownfield Covenants more timely and predictable for developers, we are offering more incentives for this kind of development.”Coakley’s suggestions for changing the brownfields law include reducing the amount of time for public comments on projects where the project applicant did not cause or contribute to contamination from 90 days to 30.She also wants two new approaches to target the difficult properties that have remained undeveloped under the current regulatory scheme.”These projects revive once-blighted areas by stimulating economic, community and physical revitalization by creating new jobs, building new neighborhoods, generating tax revenue, restoring historic buildings and other important infrastructure, or providing clean open space for communities,” Coakley said, adding she hopes to make changes to the brownfields regulations by July.