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December 20, 2005: Cleanups put green back in brownfields

Canada

Cleanups put green back in brownfields

For advocate Angus Ross, the cost of redeveloping poisoned sites is worth the effort

By SUZANNE WINTROB

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Posted at 2:15 PM EST

Special to The Globe and Mail

Angus Ross has been a nature lover as long as he can remember. But 30 years ago, as a senior executive in the reinsurance business, it wasn't so cool to be environmentally conscious, he recalls. His colleagues in big business considered him somewhat of a rebel for being outspoken on such issues as climate change and saving the environment.

"I'm an outdoors person," says Mr. Ross, 61, who retired a few years ago and now runs a small consultancy on environmental issues and reinsurance disputes out of his Toronto home. "I do a lot of canoeing. I sail, I cross-country ski, I hike, I cycle and I enjoy the outdoors."

But in his younger days, he also had strong feelings about environmental protection.

"I didn't like some of what I was seeing, so I was quite mouthy about the environment. I had discussions with senior executives who called me a radical communist [and asked], 'What are you pushing?' "

What he was pushing was clean air and healthy living, and, despite other people's grumblings, he persevered, stepping up to podiums and writing articles to express his concerns. He appeared regularly before committees and politicians, including the United Nations Environment Program and a host of federal and provincial environment ministers.

Being vocal got him noticed -- by the Prime Minister's Office, no less -- and in 1995, Mr. Ross was appointed to the PM's National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy. At the time, he recalls, many of the major banks were being asked to lend money to developers to clean up contaminated soil and rebuild on it, and neighbours were concerned. By the time the task force issued its report, called Greening Canada's Brownfield Sites, the term "brownfield" had become a buzzword across the country.

By 2003, Mr. Ross was at it again, heading another task force that produced the National Brownfield Redevelopment Strategy for Canada.

"Angus is seen by many as someone who has a good understanding of brownfield issues in general -- not as an insurer but as an independent voice on the issue," says Mitchell Fasken, president of Toronto-based developer Kimshaw Holdings Ltd. and a fellow member of the environmental roundtable.

"One of the reasons he's had so much respect around the table is that he's not promoting a policy or an agenda for himself," he says. "He has no beneficial interest in the process. He does it because it's the right thing to do for those in the industry and for the people of Canada.

Angus has really helped move the benchmark forward."

Today, Mr. Ross serves as chairman of the advisory panel of the Canadian Brownfields Network, launched in March, 2004, to implement the PM's roundtable recommendations and advocate for redevelopment.

And for all his efforts, he was recently awarded the Canadian Urban Institute's 2005 Brownie Award for individual achievement. The award "underscores the impact an individual can have through dedication and commitment," says Bob Onyschuk, chairman of the institute, which is based in Toronto.

So what exactly is a brownfield?

It's a former industrial or commercial site that is, or may be, contaminated but is otherwise a prime piece of real estate. Think old gas stations, railway yards, asbestos plants or similar properties.

When left unattended, Mr. Ross says, brownfields are often taken over by squatters and become haunts for arsonists. But if cleaned up, he says, they are good spots to build housing, parks, malls, recreational facilities and anything else that betters a neighbourhood.

The benefits are tremendous, he says. There's an environmental benefit to cleaning up a polluted site, and there's a social benefit "of removing a blot on the landscape."

For a municipality, he says, redeveloping an abandoned site means it doesn't have to build fences or maintain security through police and fire services; instead, cities reap property tax revenue. Provinces generate sales and income tax on all jobs created through brownfield cleanup and redevelopment. Ottawa gains GST on all cleanup work and supplies for redevelopment.

Redevelopment also increases the value of adjacent land. An Environment Canada study published a few years ago showed that when a brownfield site was redeveloped in the area of Hamilton's harbour, surrounding property values rose faster than other land in the city.

"It has an uplifting effect not just on the property that you're cleaning up but also on the surrounding area," he says. "That's a phenomenon that has been replicated and witnessed in many communities."

Mr. Ross is delighted about the many brownfields being redeveloped across the country, and he is encouraged that there has been no residual stigma attached to the sites.

Toronto's Port Union Village housing project stands on the site of an old asbestos factory, and units have sold quickly, he says, a feat made possible by developers who "were honest and forthcoming" with concerned neighbours. Dockside Green in British Columbia is a large waterfront project that will do great things for that city, he adds. And out East, the Moncton Shops Project comprises hundreds of acres of mixed residential housing, recreational facilities, hotels and more in the downtown core. Mr. Ross says the city kicked in $500-million for the cleanup and redevelopment but will collect $8-million a year in additional tax revenue.

Still, is every brownfield ripe for redevelopment? Not at all, Mr. Ross says. It makes sense only if it's financially sound. Numerous projects have failed because the cleanup cost was more than expected or the contamination was too widespread. Redevelopment makes sense only if the value of the land after cleanup is greater than the value of land before the cleanup plus the cost of cleanup itself, he says.

Mr. Ross would like to see an "environmental centre of excellence" built in Toronto to test decontamination technology. The building would be heated and cooled through geothermal or solar energy or using wind turbines. It would be open to the public and be a place for students to work on projects dealing with cleanup and renewable technologies.

He is asking landowners on Toronto's contaminated port lands to provide the land and an existing building, and he's trying to raise seed money from municipal and provincial governments and local technology companies.

"My message is one of hope," he says. "If you redevelop the eyesores in a community, you're going to lift up the overall spirit of the community. You'll regenerate civic pride."

Brownfield projects across Canada

Dockside Green. A 15-acre site in the heart of Victoria, on former industrial land. The $380-million project will include residential, hotel, retail and office space and light industrial development. Developers: Windmill Development Group Ltd and VanCity Enterprises Ltd.

Selkirk Waterfront Community. A 24-acre, mixed-use development with commercial, retail and residential components in downtown Victoria on the site of a former pulp and plywood mill. Developer: Jawl Development Corp.

King Liberty. A 45-acre site on Toronto's waterfront with 3,500 residential units, parkland and retail and office space on a site once occupied by factories and railway yards. Developer: CanAlfa Liberty Village Homes Inc.

Millcreek by the Grand. Townhouses built near Cambridge, Ont., on the site of former railway tracks. Developer: Winzen Homes Ltd.

Kaufman Lofts. Residential project in downtown Kitchener, Ont., on the site of former footwear factory. Developers: Andrin Homes and Kimshaw Holdings Ltd.

Moncton Shops Project. A 285-acre, mixed-use development in downtown Moncton built on a site once occupied by railway repair shops. Developer: Canada Lands Co. CLC Ltd.

Suzanne Wintrob

 

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Topic(s): Healthy Communities News, Pollution and Waste News, Sustainable Business, Toxics and Health News

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