Gregg Crystall, BCONE Regional Council member and Sr. Project Director for BrightFields, Inc. in Wilmington Delaware, reports that the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Site Investigation and Restoration Section (SIRS) currently has the responsibility for overseeing 235 Certified Brownfield Sites in the State of Delaware. Fiscal year 2015 had a record number of Brownfield Sites certified by SIRS.  The Delaware Brownfield Program provides grant incentives for approved Brownfield Developers on Delaware Certified Brownfield Sites.  Commercial entities are eligible for up to $200,000 in grant funding for environmental investigation and/or remediation activities and non-profit and public entities are eligible for up to $625,000 in grant funding for these activities.  Last fiscal year DNREC allocated and spent a total of $5,000,000 on Brownfield Sites throughout the State.  From 2004-2015, $38,921,400.72 has been reimbursed to Brownfield Developers under the State Brownfield program.   In the first two months of FY’16, DNREC has reimbursed a total of $1,589,671.77 of the $5M allocated for the year.

DNREC has commissioned the University of Delaware to update the Return on Investment study that they completed in 2013.  This study showed a return of $17.50 for every State dollar invested on Brownfield Sites!  The updated study will be published this fall.  The link to the 2013 UD Study “Beyond Natural and Economic Impacts: A Model for Social Impact Assessment of Brownfields Development Programs and a Case Study of Northeast Wilmington, Delaware” is:

http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/dwhs/bac/Documents/Final%20Submission_Brownfields%20Social%20Impact%20Report%20-%203_5_13.pdf.