CONTACT: Contact: Chrystal Bartlett, 919/733-4996, ext. 425
Date: November 8, 2002 Distribution: Statewide
Charlotte To Host National Brownfields Conference
RALEIGH - Redevelopment experts, environmental contractors and government officials from across the country will gather next week in Charlotte for this year’s national brownfields conference.
Brownfields 2002 - Investing in the Future, co-hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Engineer’s Society of Western Pennsylvania and the International City/County Management Association, will be held Nov. 13-15 at the Charlotte Convention Center.
Brownfields are real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse or which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. This year, President Bush signed federal Brownfields legislation, "the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act.”
North Carolina’s secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Bill Ross, will address the attendees on several occasions. He will help kick off the conference in the opening session on Wednesday, Nov. 13, and will join Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory on Thursday to sign North Carolina’s largest brownfields agreement. On the final day of the conference, Ross co-hosts an awards ceremony with the EPA’s Deputy Administrator Linda Fisher.
The national conference is expected to include 212 exhibitors, over 75 panel sessions, many mobile workshops to showcase successful brownfields redevelopment sites in the city of Charlotte and Rock Hill, S.C. and the presentation of the prestigious Phoenix Award. The Phoenix Award goes to the most innovative yet practical brownfields project that revived a blighted old commercial or industrial site back to productive use.
As the host state, North Carolina’s brownfields program will be well represented with an exhibit booth, mobile workshops and various staff members will deliver papers or moderate panel sessions.
To learn more about brownfields and the North Carolina program, visit www.ncbrownfields.org, for conference information, see www.brownfields2002.org or call the hotline at 1-877-343-5374. Conference registration is free.
To arrange an interview with Secretary Ross during the conference, contact Chrystal Bartlett at the number above or e-mail chrystal.bartlett@ncmail.net.
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