MGP site planning: New community development opportunities

What do you do when you've inherited a problem from the past? This is the dilemma facing companies that once owned or that have inherited one or more of the estimated 2,000--2,500 manufactured gas plant (MGP) sites around the country. These sites, the former production facilities for manufactured gaseous fuels, sometimes still contain fuel residues and byproducts of the manufacturing process. In the past, utilities may have approached management of the site cautiously, with as little fanfare as possible. Lately, however, many utilities have begun taking a more proactive and public approach. As a result, the atmosphere for addressing cleanup issues and the process for determining remediation requirements have both changed dramatically. MCP sites today are increasingly viewed as resources, not liabilities. No longer is the desired outcome of remediation solely contaminant removal. Instead, the goal is often to return the property to a productive use that promotes community redevelopment, in concert with the needs and goals of the surrounding community. Requirements for remediation are set to limit risks--based on these specific end-use plans rather than on generic industrial or residential standards. The paper discusses these development concepts