Protecting Public Health

Brownfields, generally are considered sites that pose no or limited health risks to communities. However, brownfields may have broader health impacts of concern to the community, including

Safety. Abandoned and derelict structures, open foundations, other infrastructure or equipment that may be compromised due to lack of maintenance, vandalism, deterioration, controlled substance contaminated sites (i.e., methamphetamine labs), or abandoned mine sites may all pose safety risks.
Social and economic factors. Blight, crime, vagrancy, reduced social capital or community 'connectedness', reductions in the local government tax base, and private property values that may reduce social services are all social and economic problems sometimes created by brownfields.
Environmental health. Potential environmental dangers can be biological, physical, or chemical, and can be the result of site contamination, groundwater impacts, surface runoff, migration of contaminants, or wastes dumped on site.

Communities concerned about any potential impact of brownfields on public health may want to work with their local, state or tribal health agency as part of their brownfield program activities.

The Brownfields Law expanded funding levels and eligibility for brownfields assessment and cleanup support. It provides new focus on the impacts of brownfields, particularly in disadvantaged communities and among sensitive populations. One facet of this public health focus was the introduction of language that states:

"a local government that receives a grant may use not to exceed 10% of the grant funds to develop and implement a brownfields program that may include -

monitoring the health of populations exposed to one or more hazardous substances from a brownfield site; and

monitoring and enforcement of any institutional control used to prevent human exposure to any hazardous substance from a brownfield site.

The Brownfield law also allows state and tribal brownfield response programs funded under 128(a) to monitor the health of populations around brownfields sites as well as conduct other activities that help to establish and enhance their response program. There is no 10% limit on health monitoring for states and tribal response programs.

For a fact sheet on brownfields and public health and additional information on the health monitoring.

Brownfields, Public Health and Health Monitoring
EPA 560-F-06-210
[PDF (1,553 KB) 4 Pages]
July 2006

For information on the activities of EPA partners and community organizations working to improve public health as part of brownfields assessment, cleanup and redevelopment, please see the following links:

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
Communities and state and local health agencies can seek information or request technical support and assistance from ATSDR staff and their contractors on risk assessment and risk communication; health assessments and health consultations; and other technical support through the ATSDR.

American Planning Association (APA)
Resources to support collaboration between land use and transportation planners and public health officials on issues of shared concern. For additional resources, please see the Research section.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Information on public health practice can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site at: www.cdc.gov For more information about the healthy places initiative of the CDC, please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/

Environmental Law Institute (ELI)
For general information about ELI, please visit: http://www.eli.org The Brownfields Center of ELI assembles valuable information for communities regarding assessment and cleanup of brownfields, as well as opportunities for public health improvements. For more information about these and other activities, please visit:http://www.brownfieldscenter.org/small/about.shtml

The Safety and Health Topics: Brownfields (Recycling/Industrial and Commercial Properties) page addresses worker health and safety at brownfields. It provides Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance information and links to tools for identifying, evaluating, and controlling employee exposures to hazardous substances.

National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
Provides resources, tools, and training to support improvements in environmental health and to better integrate local health department officials in the initial stages of land use planning process.

National Association of Local Boards of Health (NALBOH)
Resources that support local boards of health and their efforts to improve environmental health practice and involve health professionals in local land use planning decisions.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) conducts basic research on environmental health and environment-related diseases. This listing consists of information on a variety of environmental health topics, including answers to some common environmental questions.

The Waste and Cleanup Risk Assessment site provides information about EPA's waste and cleanup risk assessment programs. In addition, the site contains a risk assessment glossary, localized information for all EPA Regions, and other general-interest Risk Assessment information.

For more information about tools, such as health impact assessment (HIA), being used by governments to create healthy communities, please see the following:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

World Health Organization Health Impact Assessment website

San Francisco Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Section has developed a Healthy Development Measurement Tool to help communities and other stakeholders consider how development decisions may have impacts on health. To get background on the health impact assessment process or copies of this tool, visit this website.

Design for Brownfield Redevelopment and Land Revitalization

Improving Public Health

Brownfield communities need to ensure assessment and cleanup activities protect public health and may also want to consider how reuse, redevelopment and land revitalization might help serve to improve public health. For example, plans and design choices that create or expand parks, bike trails or recreational areas as part of redevelopment can improve the environment but may also increase physical activity in brownfield communities where those amenities may not be available. A redevelopment plan that incorporates a community health center or other healthcare service provider as part of residential, mixed-use, educational or commercial redevelopment can contribute to increasing access to health care services in brownfield communities.

'Stealth Health: Designing with Public Health in Mind' was the topic of the Design Charrette held on November 15, 2006 which was organized as part of Brownfields 2006. EPA, ICMA, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, health partners from Michigan and Wisconsin and a number of brownfield communities focused on how different brownfield redevelopment might look if one of the brownfield redevelopment goals was to improve public health. Attleboro, Massachusetts was the focus of our Design Charrette.

'Stealth Health: Designing with Public Health in Mind'
[PDF (399K) 2 Pages]

Key note Presentation by Dr. Tina Forrester, Director of Regional Operations, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
[PDF (4,836K) 41 pages]

Presentation by Professor Niall Kirkwood, Harvard Graduate School of Design
[PDF (10,138K) 31 Pages]

Presentation by Professor Ray Isaacs, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
[PDF (4,187K) 13 Pages]

Presentation by Michael R. Malinowski, Executive Director, Attleboro Redevelopment Authority
[PDF (1,076K) 6 Pages]

Executive Summary presentation including excerpts of each of the presentations listed above, the planning and design team and examples of final designs prepared by participants
[PDF (12,262K) 52 Pages]