Lee D. Hoffman and Gary B. O'Connor to Present in Los Angeles at "Brownfield 2019," the National Brownfields Training Conference

Lee D. Hoffman and Gary B. O'Connor will present at the National Brownfields Training Conference, "Brownfields 2019: Sustainable Communities Start Here" on December 11-13 in Los Angeles.  The conference, held every two years, is the largest event in the nation focused on environmental revitalization and economic redevelopment. 

Gary O'Connor will present on Wednesday, December 11, from 10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. on the topic, "Brass City Harvest: Transforming a Neighborhood From a Food Desert to a Food Hub."  Gary and the two other panelists, Mayor Neil O'Leary and James Nardozzi, will discuss how Brass City Harvest, Inc., a local non-profit organization committed to promoting urban agriculture and self-sufficient communities has partnered with the City of Waterbury, Connecticut to remediate and redevelop a small neighborhood brownfield site into Connecticut’s first urban fresh food aggregation, processing and distribution facility. The project highlights the successful collaboration of a community organization and a city in redeveloping a brownfield site. 

Lee D. Hoffman will present on Thursday, December 12, from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. pm the topic, "It's Not Easy Being Green (Even When it Should Be)."  The marriage of siting renewable energy projects on brownfields should be a "no brainer." Even when all of the relevant stakeholders agree that placing renewable energy project on a brownfield is a good idea, the implementation of that good idea may meet with unanticipated resistance. Stakeholders who back a project may have hesitation when it comes to implementing the project as unfamiliar issues come to light. And, lenders and equity partners may find a contaminated project site to be more than a prospective development deal can bear. Still, renewable energy projects on brownfields are worth doing, but proponents should go into them with their eyes open.  Using a real case study, this panel, including Lee Hoffman, Joe Jordan and Melanie Bachman will discuss these hurdles, how they were navigated, and what towns, states and developers can learn as they bring their own projects to completion.

For additional information on the conference schedule and to register, please visit here.