NGWA To Testify In Support Of Reauthorizing Of Federal Brownfields Program

The National Ground Water Association (NGWA) will testify in support of the federal Brownfields Program in a hearing of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment on Wednesday, July 29 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.

The hearing, “Helping Revitalize American Communities Through the Brownfields Program,” can be viewed live at www.transportation.house.gov.

Paul Gruber, PG, a member of NGWA’s Groundwater Protection and Management Subcommittee, will testify on behalf of NGWA.

Since its inception in 1995, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Program has provided a vehicle to investigate and clean up abandoned sites and has had a positive impact in both urban and rural locations. Brownfield grants and clean-up are instrumental in reinvigorating economic activity and increases the ecological value of natural systems, preserving their function.

The U.S. EPA reports the program generates about $18 in economic growth for each dollar invested. It also reports that residential property values can increase between 5.1 percent and 12.8 percent after a nearby brownfield is remediated. The program has made an estimated 44,822 acres available for reuse. There are some 400,000 brownfield sites across the country.

On a typical brownfield project, NGWA members, both contractors and engineering and scientific professionals, are engaged in assessing the site, its soil, and surface water and groundwater quality conditions, in order to effectively plan the needed remediation measures to restore it to productive use.

NGWA members work alongside a variety of other technical professionals—engineers, scientists, field technicians, and landscape architects among others to ensure site restoration to an appropriate standard for functional reuse.

About NGWA
NGWA, a nonprofit organization composed of U.S. and international groundwater professionals — contractors, equipment manufacturers, suppliers, scientists, and engineers — is dedicated to advancing groundwater knowledge. NGWA's vision is to be the leading groundwater association that advocates the responsible development, management, and use of water.