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Fostering Urban Agriculture through Brownfield Redevelopment - Meade Anderson
1. Virginia Urban
Agriculture Summit
Lynchburg, Virginia
April 15 & 16, 2014
J. Meade R. Anderson, CPG
Brownfields Program Manager
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
j.meade.anderson@deq.virginia.gov
804-698-4179
5. Victory Garden
๏ During Word War I and
World War II, Victory
Gardens were planted on
private residences and on
public to reduce the
pressure on the public
food supply. At this point
most city residences were
not that far removed from
โfarm lifeโ however over
the ensuing 50 city
gardens virtually
disappeared.
9. Urban Garden
๏ Todayโs Urban Gardening
revival provides urban
dwellers increased access to
fresher foods, promotes a
stronger sense of
community, and puts
underused land into
productive use as green
space, pocket parks, and
stormwater mitigation
10. Recycling Land โ the only choice
๏ At this point almost all land is โrecycledโ
๏ Much has been used for hundreds of years
๏ Some areas of the world have been under cultivation for
thousands of years
๏ There are many little โgiftsโ left by previous users of the
land
๏ And often we cannot see these โgiftsโ, some good like
the proper nutrients, some bad, like metals and
chemicals
๏ And we are going to have to make โsmarterโ use of land
in the future
11. History of the Toolbox
๏ Initial Guidance on Brownfields and Urban
Gardening was Developed by U.S. EPA, Region V.
- Brownfields and Urban Agriculture โ Interim
Guidelines for Safe Gardening Practices (Summer
2011)
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/urbanag/pdf/bf
_urban_ag.pdf
12. History of the Toolbox
๏ The Brownfields Focus Group of ASTSWMO
(Association of State and Territorial Waste
Management Officers) was approached by a few
U.S. EPA staff about creating a more detailed
guidance that would also cover what states can
provide in terms of technical assistance, grants,
etc.
๏ In October of 2012 ASTSWMOโs Brownfields Focus
Group published Community Gardening on
Brownfields Toolbox
๏ http://www.astswmo.org/Pages/Policies_and_Pu
blications/CERCLA_and_Brownfields.htm
13. Toolbox Organization
๏ Introduction and Purpose of the Toolbox โ designed for
use by State and Local Community officials who have some
level of experience with brownfield redevelopment as well as
environmental consultants
๏ Getting Started - commonly asked questions with links to
answers within the Toolbox document
๏ Utilizing an Urban Property for Gardening โ discusses the
importance of an AAI or Phase I Assessment if purchasing the
property is part of the plan
๏ Know your Property- how to conduct some of the Phase I
type historical reviews easily and inexpensively. This section
also talks about U.S. EPA Assessment Grants and State TBA
services
14. Toolbox Organization
๏ Sampling and other Considerations โ what potential
contaminants urban gardeners should be concerned about.
What areas to sample or remediate prior to gardening. What
areas to avoid gardening in if sampling/remediation is too
costly of an option. Also contains information on direct
contact with contaminated soils and uptake of contaminants
into common vegetable plants.
๏ Risk Management Practices โ provides examples of
different zoning and ordinances some cities have employed
to ensure that urban gardening is done safely. Also provides
information on alternative gardening approaches, such as
soil augmentation and raised beds, which help ensure
contaminants do not cause harm to gardeners or those who
eat the fruits and vegetables.
๏ Common Sense Practices โ inexpensive and easy to
implement practices, or items, such as properly washing
vegetables/fruits and wearing dust masks, that will help
ensure the safety of the gardeners and those who eat the
fruits and vegetables.
๏ Case Studies
15. Virginiaโs Experience
๏ Almost 10 years ago, the City of Lynchburg requested
DEQ evaluate two properties, the Allen Morrison Site and
the abandoned Schenkel Greenhouses, now Lynchburg
Grows!
๏ An inadequate assessment by others of the greenhouse
property lead to tremendous concerns regarding the site
conditions and the past use of pesticides, herbicides,
and fungicides
๏ DEQโs contractor sampled soil at known locations for
RECs and gridded the property, the greenhouses, and a
background area then installed monitoring wells
๏ Results indicated initial โbadโ data was not reproducible
and site contamination was easily manageable for reuse
16. Good Urban Ag Sites
๏ What makes a good urban ag sites?
๏ Available property in which the risks can be mitigated
๏ The typical logistics such as access, water, storage for
equipment, etc
๏ Typically corners of underutilized parks and unused city
property
๏ However everything from existing parking lots to landfill
property have been used with the proper garden design
and appropriate mitigation
17. Know Your Property
๏ Qualitative
๏ ASTM AAI โ VAP Phase 1
๏ Ask the neighbors
๏ Check out Sanborn Maps
๏ Aerial photos
๏ Local libraries
๏ Quantitative
๏ Test soil for proper nutrients
and for potential contamination
๏ Sampling strategy will need to
be developed and gardeners
may need help interpreting the
results
๏ Regional Screening Levels
provide a bar to measure soil
chemical risks
18. Light Brown vs Dark Brown
&
The Good Brown
๏ The conditions of previously used property (brownfields)
can vary greatly from heavily contaminated to little to no
contamination.
๏ We would urge people to avoid heavily contaminated
sites for urban gardening projects or to develop the
property with caution and knowledge of what is
necessary to mitigate the contamination and decrease
risks to users
๏ However with the proper approach many sites will be
acceptable
๏ And the โgood brownโโฆthat would be fine compost
added as a soil amendment or a layer
19. Soil Testing
๏ #1 Goal - Determine average concentrations across site
to evaluate safety of soil for gardening
๏ Chemicals of concern: metals and PAHs are typical and
common but there may be others
๏ Used incremental sampling as the best approach to
determine average concentrations in soil
๏ The soil may be within acceptable ranges for COCs
๏ However there may be some concerns, how much and
what are solutions?
20. Mitigation or Cleanup
or Good to Go?
๏ Original top soil on site prior to gardening
๏ Imported soil used for growing plants in rows and raised
beds
๏ Various gardening designs to raise above potential
contamination
๏ Donโt forget that pathways, walkways, parking areas,
staging areas, etc are exposure points too.
21. Balancing the Economics
Balancing the Risks
๏ Samples were collected now what?
๏ Compare data to the DEQ VRP Screening Tables or US
EPA regional screening levels (RSLs)
๏ Compare to the Background Data Set if available
๏ Sample results are below these values
๏ Happy Gardening!
๏ Sample results are above these values
๏ Research & understand exceedances
๏ Develop a clean up plan, a mitigation plan, and/or a risk
management plan
22. Commonsense: The Best Precaution
๏ Weโve all faced the questions whether urban gardening
is safe
๏ Nearly all property has been used previously
๏ People will garden regardless so its much better to
educate and focus their energies
๏ Almost any land can contain some contaminant whether
anthropogenic or natural or pathogenic which could pose
a degree of risk
๏ So know the site risks & manage the site risks
๏ Most plants do not uptake metals and this is not a large
concern for growing
๏ Wash all vegetables and fruit
๏ Minimize incidental ingestion; keep your hands out of
your mouth!
23. Sampling Approaches
๏ Key is to develop a good incremental
sampling/analysis
๏ What are you trying to accomplish?
๏ Develop approach that is appropriate for the site
and goals
๏ Random sample locations or grid
๏ Discrete or composite samples
๏ BUT make sure to mark locations in case
resampling is necessary
24. Typical Results of Testing
๏ Arsenic โ very typical as existing natural conditions have
arsenic often exceeding residential standards
๏ However arsenic may come from historic pesticide spraying of lead
arsenate sprays or other anthropogenic means
๏ Lead - also very common
๏ Lead based paint โ drip lines from old or previous structures
๏ Airborne deposition from vehicle emissions
๏ Lead arsenate sprays
๏ PAHs - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon - PAHs occur in oil,
coal, and tar deposits, and are produced as byproducts of fuel
burning (whether fossil fuel or biomass)
๏ benzo[a]pyrene โ common and typically more toxic
๏ Seen sediments from road or parking lot runoff
๏ Mercury โ by product of coal burning
๏ CCA - Chromated Copper Arsenate - a chemical wood
preservative containing chromium, copper and arsenic. CCA is
used in pressure treated wood to protect wood from rotting due
to insects and microbial agents
25. Analytical Costs & Tips
๏ Sampling can be expensive so develop plans
๏ Sample for nutrients also
๏ Take sampling in steps
๏ Extra samples can always be taken and then held
incase there is a need to run additional samples
๏ Unusual or unexpected sample results should be
considered for resampling rather than speculation!
27. Composting and Zoning
๏ Composting means the
process of biological
decomposition of solid
wastes under controlled
conditions.
๏ Compost means a
humus-like organic
material resulting from
biological decomposition
of solid waste.
