IN THIS ISSUE TOSC Activities Underway in New Communities Center Wins RCRA Grant for Memphis Project Neural Networks and GIS: A Hybrid Approach to Brownfields Sleuthing Two New Environmental Updates Published Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) Program Update Web Resources for Community Cleanup and Redevelopment How to Contact Us Center Outreach Web Site TOSC Activities Underway in New Communities In the second half of 2004, the HSRC's Technical Outreach Services for Communities (TOSC) program began working with several new environmentally threatened communities. In Manatee County, Florida, TOSC staff members have helped members of the Tallevast Community review a preliminary contamination assessment report and consent order regarding cleanup operations at the site of the former American Beryllium Company. Over a number of years, the company improperly dumped oils, petroleum-based fuels, solvents, acids and metals on its property. The volatile organic compound, trichloroethene (TCE), has been found in the groundwater beneath company property. In St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, TOSC is preparing to provide health education training and community organizing assistance to a community concerned about the effects of a toxic landfill known as the Bovoni dump. An underground fire is burning at the landfill, emitting combustion products to the air, and occasionally breaking the surface and covering the area in thick, black smoke. In 1996, a community group concerned about exposures to harmful fumes from the fires, petitioned the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to evaluate the public health impact of the Bovoni Landfill. ATSDR contacted TOSC about providing services to the community. In New Orleans, Louisiana, TOSC staff members have met with residents of the Treme Community who are concerned about the health hazards of several dry cleaners and an abandoned chemical company. In August 2004, TOSC delivered a presentation on exposure and potential health effects of chemicals used in dry cleaners. The program has signed a Letter of Agreement to provide other services to the community, including possible workshops on the benefits and challenges of the NPL listing process, leadership development, the impact of pollutants released at the abandoned chemical company site, and possible funding sources for the community to protect itself from current hazards. TOSC plans to assist the community in setting up a database with information obtained from a survey of its residents and to participate in community meetings where appropriate. In Convent, Louisiana, TOSC signed a Letter of Agreement to provide services to the Concerned Citizens & Youth of St. James Highway 44 East and West Banks. This community is concerned about possible environmental hazards from their proximity of sugar cane fields, where sewage sludges (biosolids) are used as fertilizers and are emitted to the air during harvest burning of crop wastes. TOSC staff members already have assisted the community in organizing a health fair and providing a seminar in September 2004 in collaboration with Region 6 EPA on the hazards of biosolids application in agriculture. Center Wins RCRA Grant for Memphis Outreach Project The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded the HSRC/South & Southwest a $30,000 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) grant to provide education and technical assistance to an environmentally threatened community in Memphis, Tennessee. RCRA funds are awarded for assistance to communities endangered by contaminants generated by facilities that are still in operation. The HSRC/S&SW won the grant based on its previous successful RCRA-sponsored efforts to assist communities in Augusta, Georgia, and the state of Louisiana. Center outreach specialists from Georgia Tech will work with the New Chicago community of Memphis, where pesticide releases from a chemical manufacturing plant have contaminated sediments in a local creek. These contaminated sediments were dredged out of the creek during the 1970s and deposited on nearby land, where homes were eventually built. The center will provide education to community members on the risk and health effects of exposure to these contaminants and offer technical assistance in how community members can best protect themselves. The project will last a year, and Georgia Tech expects to begin work soon. Neural Networks and GIS: A Hybrid Approach to Brownfields Sleuthing Center outreach specialists have worked with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) to develop a hybrid system for identifying brownfields, which uses an artificial neural network (ANN) and geographic information systems (GIS). This new technical approach addresses the challenge of creating a brownfields inventory and targeting underutilized sites for redevelopment. In order to test its effectiveness, GTRI used ANN/GIS to analyze about 25,000 parcels in a diverse area of downtown Atlanta. ANNs, which are modeled after biological nervous systems and decision-making processes, can efficiently handle complex data beyond the scope of traditional statistics. Using geographic data prepared in GIS as inputs--including parcel data, Census data, and proximity to known contaminated sites and railroads-- ANNs are able to learn complex relationships and to determine whether or not a parcel is a brownfield. Ultimately, the ANN/GIS system used by GTRI researchers creates a catalogue of brownfields, which can then be used to target future growth in the region. The ANN/GIS approach had an 85 percent success rate in the downtown Atlanta study. Due to the success of the Atlanta study and positive response at the 2004 Georgia Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) conference, efforts are underway to increase the study area to include the entire city of Atlanta, to update and improve inputs, and to incorporate high-resolution aerial photography. In the past, brownfield surveys required professionals to visit each parcel to establish if real or perceived contamination existed. Using the ANN/GIS method, a broad survey can be completed much faster over large areas of land. The brownfields catalogue created by the ANN/GIS system will serve as an excellent resource for state and local government and developers: state agencies will be able to promote their environmental goals; local governments will be able to market vacant lots and recoup tax revenue losses; and developers will be able to locate opportunities for profit in emerging markets. Two New Environmental Update Factsheets Available for Download The HSRC outreach program recently published two new fact sheets help environmentally troubled communities. One fact sheet describes the basics of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires that federal agencies consider the environmental impact of a major project before finalizing a proposal to move forward with the plan. The other fact sheet summarizes the fundamentals of chemical exposure so that community members can better understand how to assess and avoid local contamination hazards. Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities (TAB) Program Update During the second half of 2004, the Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities (TAB) Program resumed active assistance to communities after receiving new funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The staff provided services to two communities, pursued brownfields-related research, and established linkages with other brownfields-related organizations. In Atlanta, Georgia, TAB worked closely the City in preparing a proposal to EPA for the current round of Brownfields Assessment pilot grant funding. TAB also assisted in an evaluation of the redevelopment potential of several Atlanta transportation corridors that are likely targets for smart growth and brownfield revitalization. Specifically, TAB helped researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute to develop an artificial neural network that uses geographic information systems (GIS) to predict the location of brownfield properties along these transportation corridors. Although in the early stages of development, the network has shown initial success and work continues. The network was included in AtlantaÕs application for a brownfield assessment pilot, with the goal of assisting the City in locating brownfield properties. In Petersburg, Florida, TAB staff members helped the City generate and update a GIS system capable of creating an inventory of local brownfield sites. TAB also provided St. Petersburg with some data management services related to underground storage tank facilities. TAB staff members also established links with two other brownfields-related organizations and participated in national brownfields events, including: Meeting with representatives of the Brownfield Institute to discuss the possibilities of collaborating on education and technical assistance efforts for Georgia and Alabama brownfield communities. TAB and the Brownfield Institute will work together in order to build the capacity of communities addressing the successful reuse brownfield sites. Agreeing to join the Land Use Control Webring, a group of public and private entities with the mission of providing information to parties addressing land use controls and brownfield sites. The webring is organized by the International City/County Management Agency, and is expected to be on-line in early 2005. The webring will present web users with links to various web sites that will provide information on the use and enforcement of land use controls. Participating in the U.S. EPAÕs annual brownfields conference last September in St. Louis. In 2004, the TAB program participated in research on topics of key interest to all brownfields communities. In one notable project, Region 6 outreach specialists used survey data from 46 small- to medium-sized cities to analyze the most important variables in predicting city Brownfields program success. TAB is working in collaboration with the LSU School of Landscape Architecture and expects to complete its work in the near future. Web Resources for Community Cleanup and Redevelopment The World Wide Web has a wealth of information for communities involved in environmental cleanup or redevelopment projects. Here is a sampling of resources: A calendar of upcoming brownfields-oriented events is maintained by the EPA Brownfields program. Click here to see it. The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) maintains an electronic library with extensive documents of interest to brownfields communities. http://www.icma.org/main/topic.asp?tpid=19&hsid=1 The Revitalization Institute (http://www.revitalizationinstitute.org/) is a nonprofit research, education and service organization that helps urban and rural areas quickly recover from economic decline, environmental damage, and catastrophe. The national Brownfields 2005 conference will be held November 2-4 in Denver, Colorado. The call for presentations is open through April 29. For more details, go to: http://www.brownfields2005.org/ In 1997, GSA launched the Brownfields Redevelopment Initiative to identify and redeploy underutilized federal properties. Read about some of the success stories of this program at: http://bri.gsa.gov/brownfields/success/ Brownfields-oriented conferences at the Center for Brownfields Initiatives site: www.brownfields.com/conferences.htm Toolkit developed by EPA on how to set up a community advisory group to participate in decision-making for Superfund projects or other sites with environmental problems. www.epa.gov/superfund/tools/cag/cagtlktc.pdf EnviroTools is a site at Michigan State University established to empower citizen participation in cleaning up contaminated sites. It has a page with links to fact sheets on topics such as: 1) community building; 2) environmental assessment; 3) pollutants, fate, transport and behavior; 4) health effects on humans and the environment; 5) risk assessment; 6) regulations and legal considerations; 7) finances; 8) remediation; and 9) redevelopment. To access these resources, go to: www.egr.msu.edu/~envirotools/cgi-bin/factsheets.php3. EPA funding will support training for over 1,000 persons for environmental jobs in brownfields communities nationwide. In its ongoing efforts to promote economic revitalization and safeguard the environment and public health, EPA has announced the awarding of its second round of Brownfields Job Training Grants under the new Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002. www.epa.gov/brownfields/archive/pilot_arch.htm Go to the EPA Brownfields Technology Support Center to download a 21-page document entitled, Improving Decision Quality: Making the Case for Adopting Next Generation Site Characterization Practices. www.brownfieldstsc.org/publications_index.htm Small Community Quarterly is a free electronic newsletter published by the National Center for Small Communities (NCSC). The NCSC provides small-town decisionmakers with tools to govern effectively and skills to expand local economies, protect natural resources and preserve community character. Go to: www.natat.org/ncsc/ and select "Publications." The newsletter is on the publications link page. The Sustainable Communities Network offers a downloadable brochure with ideas for how communities can plan a sustainable event as well as a starter kit for a community member, city official, planner, or design professional to identify available planning tools and assess their appropriateness. www.sustainable.org/ If you have any resources to publish in this newsletter, please send them to mark.hodges@gtri.gatech.edu. Please feel free to forward this newsletter on to your friends, family and colleagues. To contact us for any more information, please see below. Clean Communities E-Newsletter Mark Hodges, Editor GTRI/ITTL Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA  30332-0837 Email: mark.hodges@gtri.gatech.edu Phone: 404.894.6987 Fax: 404.894.9081 All content is (C) Copyright 2005.