Eco-Industrial Parks Offer
Sustainable Base Redevelopment

by Suzanne G. Spohn

What do Plattsburgh NY, Chattanooga TN, Oakland CA and Alameda CA have in common? These four communities, all impacted by defense conversion, are evaluating a new option for sustainable re-development - the eco-industrial park (EIP).

What is an eco-industrial park? An EIP is made up of manufacturing and service businesses that cooperate closely to improve their environmental and economic performance by reducing waste and increasing resource efficiency. Firms coordinate their activities to increase efficient use of raw materials, reduce outputs of waste, conserve energy and water resources, and reduce transportation requirements.

This resource efficiency translates into economic gains for the businesses while the local community benefits from the resulting improvements in its environment and from the creation of new jobs.

"The probable enhanced economic performance of participating businesses will make EIPs a powerful economic development tool for communities," says Ernie Lowe, author of Eco-Industrial Parks, a guidebook for local development teams, and Discovering Industrial Ecology (Battelle Press, 1997), which lays out a conceptual framework for EIPs. But how a community can best help to create the relationships needed to enhance resource efficiency is a matter of debate.

One type of EIP, the virtual EIP, is a network of related regional companies that are not physically located in the same park. Companies in a virtual park can create economies of scale for cooperative buying or sharing employees' services. Firms participating in waste exchanges may pay lower prices for secondary raw materials and may realize savings in hazardous waste disposal charges. Networked businesses that are located in the same region can enjoy reduced transportation costs, whether the firms are industrial, commercial or retail establishments.

Another type of park, the zero-emissions orclosed-loop manufacturing EIP, has as its goal the total elimination of wastes. Companies are co-located in the EIP so that water, heat and energy sharing, and recycling of low-value byproducts, become physically and economically feasible. Participating firms need to closely coordinate their production processes and infrastructure to maximize efficiency.

Most eco-industrial parks under development fall somewhere in between these two extremes.

"EIPs are an appealing redevelopment option for brownfields because they offer the community sustainability, economic growth and lower environmental impact than traditional industry," says Ed Cohen-Rosenthal, director of the Work and Environment Initiative at the Cornell University Center for the Environment, which carried out Plattsburgh's baseline study. "They often offer industry proximity to existing industrial centers and access to transportation." Military bases typically have the added advantage of accessibility to multimodal transportation - rail, ship, air and highway.

Plattsburg's vision: Total Quality Environmental Management. The goal for the Plattsburgh AFB EIP is to become the first US multi-modal EIP with an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS). According to Bruce Steadman of US Facilities Management, Inc., "The ISO 14001 EMS creates in a company the atmosphere and culture that stimulates continual improvement in environmental performance and puts you in a mindset to reach zero waste." He continues, "We see an EIP as being much more than simply a waste-to-raw material systems approach. To achieve environmental goals, we look to inculcate in EIP occupants a more long-term strategic (e.g., pollution prevention) approach such as that embodied in the ISO 14001 standard. This will have significant economic bottom line impacts also, including lower environmental compliance costs, improved resource productivity higher quality, and minimized risk from non-compliances."

And Mark Barie of the Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation (PARC) adds, "The ISO 14001 EIP approach meets the two objectives of PARC: 1) it creates a differential competitive advantage that is unique, attractive and marketable; and 2) it coordinates the redevelopment of the base to minimize environmental impacts to the 4000+ acre physical property while targeting specific areas for environmental enhancement."

Chattanooga's goal: 10,000 family income jobs. The Volunteer Site, a former Army Ammunition Plant, was placed on standby in 1977. With support from the Armament Retooling Manufacturing Support (ARMS) initiative, the 7000 acre site has been opened for commercial use. The site, which is operated by ICI Americas, has been designated as an EIP. As explained by Sid Saunders, Vice President for Government Operations, "What that means to us is a community of businesses that collaborate to improve their economic and environmental performance by sharing resources like water, power, waste, heat, land, etc." As is true of many Federal facilities, Sid notes, "It is hard to get restoration/remediation money today, but leasing the site leaves past environmental liability with the Army and, at the same time, provides it with revenues needed to maintain the plant's standby status and to remediate the environmental problems from the past."

ICI Americas thinks of the Volunteer EIP as a National Sustainable Development Laboratory - a place to test innovative remediation technologies, recycle/reuse linkages and research on sustainable buildings. The centerpiece of the new office complex area was designed by internationally recognized architect William McDonough and built for reuse. Excellent access for transportation - road, rail, runway, river - makes the site ideal for warehouse and distribution businesses. "And if you can ship out of here," Saunders reasons, "you can also ship in items to be disassembled, reformed, reassembled and shipped out again. So why not look for businesses in recycling and reuse?" Current plans are to redevelop the already used "brownfields" while leaving intact almost 4000 acres of forested "greenfields" populated with coyotes, turkeys, foxes and deer.

Oakland and Alameda: Testing the Waters. The180-acre Oakland Naval Medical Center (ONMC) is being considered as a possible site for an EIP, to be developed by the United Indian Nations in partnership with the environmental engineering firm, Levine-Fricke. According to UIN Economic Development Director Luis Granados, the EIP, which is likely to include a recycling component, will be linked to regional businesses. Though its physical acreage is yet to be decided, it will have certain "virtual EIP" features because of its regional linkages. A feasibility study is now in the design phase.

In a broader economic approach, the Economic Development Alliance for Business (EDAB) is issuing a Request for Proposal to conduct a feasibility study regarding the establishment of a resource recovery-based EIP in the East Bay, looking at growth potential, job creation, market demand, mix of businesses, desirable site characteristics, and recommendations on how to proceed. Available military sites have a high likelihood of being considered if an EIP is economically feasible, according to Mary Ortendahl of EDAB.

Getting started. Successful community initiatives to develop EIPs share three characteristics: (1) a champion - a strong local leader(s) to argue the case for an EIP; (2) a thorough local analysis of what economic demand really is for the product(s) of the EIP; and (3) an honest process - an open, shared agenda where all stakeholders are represented. The four communities appear to have done the necessary homework to maximize chances for success.

After considerable public input over a three-year period to consider several redevelopment options, the idea for an EIP in Plattsburgh was initially championed by Bruce Steadman and Mark Barie. A baseline study canvassed major economic players in the Plattsburg region to determine their inputs and outputs, and the present and probable future of the regional economy. The US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Regional Office in Boston funded the baseline study; the Office of Economic Adjustment of the Department of Defense is sponsoring the next phase of the study, to develop a recruiting and marketing plan. EPA's Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation is collaborating with Plattsburgh to test a computer program to optimize the mix of facilities in an EIP - the "Developing Industrial Ecosystems Tool" model. Plattsburgh is also soliciting financial support from regional civic and business organizations.

At the Volunteer Site, Sid Saunders championed the planned redesign of the facility into one of the nation's first EIPs. Asked about community involvement in the process, Sid says, "In the beginning they don't care how it's redeveloped, but later, when they find out how much value there is in this kind of redevelopment - stand back!" Initial funding for the project was through the ARMS program.

Results to date. The flag went down at Plattsburgh AFB in September of 1995. Since then Plattsburgh's EIP has gone from 3 leases to 14; from 8 jobs to 150 jobs; and from 8000 square feet of leased space to 250,000 square feet. The park infrastructure has been refitted to burn natural gas instead of fuel oil, avoiding the release of hundreds of thousands of pounds of sulfur dioxide. PARC is now actively recruiting new firms and applying for ISO 14001 certification.

At the Volunteer Site in Chattanooga, re-development will come in phases and has begun by using facilities already in place. The local school administration will locate its headquarters into a renovated building complex. Several locally-owned companies have signed long-term leases, as have a chemical production facility and missile assembly company. A technology business incubator and an environmental awareness and training center are also open, according to Bev Bair, Marketing Coordinator for the site.

The United Indian Nations presented its EIP redevelopment concept to the Oakland community on April 24 and will continue to work within the base re-use process and with the City of Oakland regarding the ONMC site. Ernie Lowe of Indigo Development presented another version of an EIP at this same meeting. Both of these concepts could fit within the broader economic analysis being initiated by EDAB.

Suzanne G. Spohn is a Senior Policy Analyst with the US Environmental Protection Agency (2127), Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation,401 M Street SW, Washington DC 20460; phone 202/260-7568; fax 202/260-0174; e-mail: giannini-spohn.suzanne @ epamail.epa.gov

Reprinted with permission from the May 1997 issue of ICMA Base Reuse Consortium Bulletin, published by the International City/County Management Association. This work is used with the permission of the copyright owner for publication on the Smart Growth Network web site. Any copies of this work shall include this copyright notice.

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