How Much Cleaning Up Brownfields Is Really Worth

There are more than 450,000 brownfield sites in the U.S., properties once used for industrial purposes that are now contaminated by hazardous substances at low levels. In 1995, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched the Brownfields Program to provide support for brownfield remediation, an effort that was expanded in 2002, when Congress passed the so-called Brownfields Law. From that law's enactment through fiscal year 2013, the EPA has awarded public and private-sector organizations nearly 1,000 grants for cleaning up these industrial eyesores, for a total of almost $190 million.

Studies have proven the environmental gains that come with infill development on brownfield sites. And there's all kinds of examples that show all the uses to which brownfield sites can be put: transit centers, parks, even new factories. Until now, though, there's never been a measure for the actual value of brownfield remediation nationwide. Is the government getting its money's worth?