Getting Green Out Of Brownfields

This article examines the growing trend in the Bay Area toreturnbrownfields to productive use, giving some areas such as Union City andSouth San Francisco a new urban core. The article sites a number ofreasonsfor the trend, including the fact that "regulators have backed away fromdemands that such parcels be returned to a pristine state. Developers,scrambling for land in the core of the Bay Area, are seeing profitinsteadof lawsuits. Lawmakers and regulators are reducing builders' risk bycreating insurance for cleanup cost overruns and offering agreementsthatextinguish future liability."