Lawmakers vote to pass measures that will breathe new life into forgotten swaths of land: 'So many parcels ... have just been walked away from and just sit there'

Forgotten properties in Connecticut are getting a makeover. Lawmakers at the state level recently agreed to support regulations that streamline the cleanup of properties scarred by industrial use.

When an old factory or warehouse stops being used, there are many options for reusing the space. The first is to develop the buildings into housing or offices, which is especially common in cities where housing crises make creating liveable spaces a top priority. Failing factories and plants can also be revitalized as engines for new technology. Factories made redundant by technological developments have even been made into museums.

However, when abandoned properties are left to decay, it becomes a public health issue that drains resources. In Connecticut, a local news source reported that that is about to change.

Adopting this cleanup legislation has a massive impact on the community. Not only will removal of the sites create more viable property for business or housing, but the land will also be scourged of its toxic chemicals, which may be affecting the water table.

Also, this project "will create new construction jobs, $3.78 billion in new GDP growth, and $115 million in new revenue for the state over the next five years," reported Julie Martin Banks for CT News Junkie.

Connecticut joins 48 other U.S. states in this expedited process of investigating the health of these "brownfield" sites — locations that previously were used for manufacturing, which potentially polluted the land.

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"I look forward to implementing this modern cleanup program and bringing valuable properties back into productive reuse," said Kate Dykes, commissioner of the state's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Returning these properties to a healthy state in order to benefit the community is a bipartisan issue that unifies all community members, including developers, environmentalists, and homeowners.

"Connecticut — being part of the great Northeast — was part of the industrial revolution, but so many parcels of land from 200 years ago that were at the forefront of technology during that industrial revolution have just been walked away from and just sit there," said Republican Senator John Kissell. "They are not productive. People don't want to go near them. As soon as you dig up the soil, you're on the hook for all this remediation and costs and expenses."

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