Clifford A. Lipscomb
Greenfield Advisors LLC, USA
Title: The Impact of abandoned fracking sites on brownfield funding
Biography
Biography: Clifford A. Lipscomb
Abstract
When real estate researchers discuss brownfields, often former industrial sites (e.g. steel mills), automobile shops, salvage yards, dry cleaners, or illegal drug laboratories come to mind. Considering that the U.S. has approximately 1.1 million oil and gas wells and considering the current state of the “fracking boom”, the following question comes to mind: do abandoned fracking sites qualify as brownfields under the current definition? The traditional definition of a brownfield is real property that has potential or actual contamination issues that may cause reuse or redevelopment issues. After discussing this issue, the paper examines the trends in EPA and state brownfield funding for the redevelopment and reuse of abandoned fracking sites. With so many fracking wells being drilled, the potential demand for state and federal brownfield monies (i.e. grants) is expected to surpass potential funding supply in the coming decades.
