In many cases, these sites, often located in areas where businesses once flourished, are ripe for revitalization. The answer is an unfortunate paradox, born partly of an inadequate federal policy that dooms many viable properties to oblivion, forcing portions of communities into an inevitable downward spiral. While some of these sites do pose a plausible public health threat, others may present no environmental risk at all. An abandoned gas station site, for example, might be tainted if the station's storage tanks leaked gasoline into the groundwater. Developers are reluctant to invest in brownfields because, under existing federal law, they can be held liable for any contamination caused by previous owners.
Few developers are willing to risk that kind of liability.
By discouraging redevelopment of urban brownfields, existing federal law harms our environment and squeezes urban economies. The story is a familiar one, particularly to anyone who has lived in a city long enough to watch its once-thriving neighborhoods slowly deteriorate, while population and economic centers shift steadily outward. In nearly every major city, abandoned properties in the heart of town languish, while development slowly engulfs the natural lands around it. There are currently as many as 450,000 brownfields in the United States, according to Environmental Protection Agency estimates. As idle economic resources, these sites detract from, rather than contribute to, the local economy.