De-Listed Superfund Sites Lead Regional Redevelopments

The West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission (WMSRDC) has successfully redeveloped several brownfields properties.

A 200-acre former chemical company site in Muskegon was one of the nation’s top 10 Superfund sites because of significant dumping. Cleaned up with state and EPA Superfund and Resource, Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) funding, the state transferred ownership to the county but prohibited development beyond a certain depth below the surface (to avoid disturbing contaminated groundwater) and on the most contaminated 15 acres.

Currently, a $5 million business park is being built. The Economic Development Administration (EDA) granted WMSRDC $2.5 million for infrastructure. The Cordova Business Park will provide 500–800 new jobs.

The Amazon building, a former knitting mill also in Muskegon, was redeveloped into residential housing. To make it financially feasible to redevelop, the developer received Section 8 HUD subsidies. About 25 percent of the housing is currently Section 8 affordable housing.

The region’s most notable redevelopment is the Heritage Landing park site. This site now provides seasonal jobs and attracts more than a million people over 10 days during its Summer Celebration music festival. The impacts, while not quantified, are felt regionally. Events held at Heritage Landing account for 20–25 percent of the county’s total annual hotel bed tax levies of $780,000.

WMSRDC has initiated Michigan’s first $100,000 Brownfields Inventory and Plan for Implementation, funded in part by the Michigan Coastal Management Program in the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, through a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Administration. Phase I is a comprehensive inventory of brownfields in the region’s five counties. Phase II is a detailed feasibility study of the reuse potential. Phase III is the identification of state and federal tools to assist with cleanup and redevelopment. Its ultimate goal, according to Executive Director Sean Dey, is “to help our communities implement the best plan for reuse.” Once the Brownfields Inventory and Plan for implementation is completed, the results will be integrated into the CEDS document.