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At the core of environmental law is the concept of public data:
the basic right of any citizen to have full access to all
information related to contaminated sites. This means that whenever
a site is found to be contaminated at levels considered hazardous to
human health and/or the environment, this information must, under
state law, be immediately submitted to Vermont DEC. This information
is then placed in a Hazardous Sites database, assigned a Site ID
number, and a publicly accessible file opened. A short description
of activities at each site is published on-line in a searchable
database:
http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec/wastediv/sms/hazsites.htm.
Once a new brownfield is identified and a Site Number
established, a DEC Site Manager is assigned. Reports and
correspondence related to the site are kept in a secure file at
Vermont DEC Waterbury headquarters, and all the contents of the file
become part of the permanent public record. Sites remain on the
Vermont DEC database until they are considered not a threat to human
health or the environment. Citizens can contact Vermont DEC at
802·241·3888, set up an appointment to review the file(s), and have
copies made of any and all documents in each file. Direct contact
can also be made with the Site Manager for each site.
The database includes everything from contaminated properties
just discovered to relatively “clean” sites that have been
undergoing follow-up monitoring for years. While the database is not
a precise indicator of the severity of hazards at each site, it is a
great resource for the public to learn where known brownfields are
located in their community.
In some cases, the CEDO office may have copies of recent site
assessments. Copies of these are available at no cost.
Public data is also a key component of the City's brownfields
strategy, which is based on funding environmental site assessments
and working through cleanup and redevelopment issues. It has been
demonstrated repeatedly that once reliable and valid site data is
created by qualified consultants and placed in the public domain,
the interaction between the public, State DEC, developers, and
stakeholders is greatly enhanced, since it is based on full
disclosure of factual evidence. |
