New Environmental Solutions

EPA’s land revitalization initiatives are producing significant environmental 

benefits and helping to transform communities into more sustainable and 

livable places. The strategy of encouraging market-driven redevelopment of 

brownfields and other contaminated sites for economic reuse is proving to 

be a successful approach at many sites. However, challenging real estate 

markets and economic realities can leave some formerly contaminated 

properties unused, possibly for a long time. New approaches are needed 

to revitalize these sites and protect human health and the environment.

EPA’s Land Revitalization Team is working with communities, states, other 

federal agencies, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and the 

private sector to develop and test new approaches that recognize valuable reuse alternatives for formerly contaminated properties. Building 

green infrastructure to help manage stormwater runoff and floods, promoting safe soil management to support urban agriculture, and siting renewable energy on contaminated sites can bring environmental, ecological, 

and social benefits to communities. Unlocking the potential value of these 

underused properties often requires creativity and close collaboration with 

many public and private partners. These projects can help stabilize communities and spur economic development.

Land Revitalization Fact Sheet

Green Infrastructure

E

PA is helping several communities 

explore opportunities for implementing green infrastructure on 

vacant land, infill sites, and contaminated properties. 

Green infrastructure involves the use of 

landscape features to store, infiltrate, 

and evaporate stormwater. This reduces 

the amount of water draining into sewers 

and helps reduce the discharge of pollutants into area water bodies. Examples 

of green infrastructure include rain 

gardens, swales, constructed wetlands, 

and permeable pavements. 

Building green infrastructure on underused and vacant properties, including 

brownfields, can be an innovative 

environmental solution that goes beyond conventional regulatory fixes for 

controlling stormwater runoff. Green infrastructure also can provide important 

environmental and socio-economic 

benefits to communities, regardless of 

whether the communities have separate sewers or combined sewer systems 

(see box below). 

In Region 7, EPA and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Survey 

sponsored a green infrastructure workshop for local governments in September 2010 that focused on how to apply 

green infrastructure techniques to the 

former stockyard properties in Sioux 

City, Iowa. 

Many communities in the U.S. have separate sewer systems. One set of sewer pipes conveys wastewater to treatment plants 

before discharging it into nearby lakes and rivers. A second set of pipes conveys stormwater from rain events, which is 

discharged into receiving waters, generally without treatment. Stormwater typically contains pollutants such as bacteria, 

nutrients, and oil and grease, that wash off streets and parking lots and other surfaces during rain events. The large volumes 

of stormwater and pollutants being discharged can have substantial adverse effects on 

lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands. 

Some communities have only one set of sewer pipes that handle both wastewater and stormwater. These combined sewer systems can convey wastewater and stormwater to area treatment 

plants in dry weather, but during rain events there is too much volume for the sewers to handle. 

The sewers overflow, releasing a mixture of stormwater and untreated wastewater into receiving 

waters. These discharges, called combined sewer overflows (CSOs), are a major water pollution concern for the approximately 772 cities in the U.S. that have combined sewer systems. 

In Region 5, EPA is working with cities 

such as Cincinnati and Cleveland that 

are investing in green infrastructure 

as an element of their CSO long-term 

control programs. Both cities are working on huge new public works projects 

to reduce CSO discharges and protect 

area waters. These communities and 

the regulatory agencies recognize the 

important role that land revitalization 

can play in controlling water pollution 

from stormwater runoff. 

Building green infrastructure on underutilized parcels in urban areas can simultaneously help cities reduce CSO discharges, stormwater runoff, and reduce 

the amount of vacant property, while 

creating greenspace and public amenities that contribute to neighborhood 

revitalization. The goal is to find solutions 

that can become true community investments—in the environment and in social 

and economic development—that yield 

benefits in the “triple bottom line.”
United States Office of Solid Waste and EPA 560-F-11-007

Environmental Protection Emergency Response April 2011

Agency (5105T) www.epa.gov/brownfields/

Cincinnati’s Lick Run Corridor

More Information:

Visit EPA’s green infrastructure web site at http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=298

Visit EPA’s Land Revitalization program web site at http://www.epa.gov/landrevitalization/

Cleveland’s Project Clean Lake

In late 2010, EPA, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Northeast 

Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) agreed on a plan to address the flow of untreated sewage 

into Cleveland area waterways 

and Lake Erie by capturing and 

treating more than 98 percent of 

wet weather flows entering the 

combined sewer system servicing 

Cleveland and 59 adjoining communities. 

Project Clean Lake is a $3 billion, 

25-year plan. As part of this plan, 

the sewer district will invest at least 

$42 million in green infrastructure 

projects. 

Under Project Clean Lake, NEORSD 

will reuse brownfields and vacant 

properties for green infrastructure, 

which is expected to assist in the revitalization of targeted urban neighborhoods. The sewer district will work 

with the Cleveland and Cuyahoga 

County land banks to transform the 

area’s numerous vacant or abandoned properties to runoff control 

landscape uses. The sewer district will 

collaborate with governments and 

local community groups to select the 

locations and types of green infrastructure projects.

In Cincinnati, the Metropolitan Sewer 

District (MSD) reached an agreement 

on a substantial list of projects to 

reduce CSO discharges. The agreement allows the sewer district to substitute green infrastructure solutions 

for conventional “grey infrastructure” 

control measures, provided the same 

level of CSO control can be ensured. 

MSD is working on plans for several 

projects that involve using green 

infrastructure to meet CSO control 

commitments. EPA’s Brownfields and 

Land Revitalization programs are providing significant assistance to MSD 

during its planning work. 

One project MSD is evaluating is in 

the South Fairmont area of Cincinnati, in a corridor known as Lick Run. 

MSD is exploring strategies to keep 

stormwater out of the combined 

sewer system. Instead, stormwater will 

be conveyed to Mill Creek via a new 

above-ground channel. This will free up 

capacity in the sewer system and reduce CSO discharges. The new green 

corridor would be a significant amenity 

for the neighborhood and could spark 

commercial and economic revitalization in the area. EPA Brownfields and 

Land Revitalization funds are being 

used to support MSD’s planning work, 

including site assessments of properties 

in the corridor and planning of action 

steps to bring 

the concept 

to fruition. 

EPA invited 

the U.S. 

Department 

of Housing 

and Urban 

Development and the Department of 

Transportation to help focus transportation and community development 

resources on the affected neighborhood. This interagency partnership 

is an outgrowth of a national Sustainable Communities Partnership 

among the three agencies. The 

agencies hope to develop a strategy to increase habitat, clean up 

brownfields, and reduce the supply 

of vacant land in the area.

Mill Creek Falls, Cleveland

Lick Run Corridor Proposed Plan