Extreme Makeover-Land Edition

You’d never know that this now-bucolic property on the banks of the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County with an occasional bald eagle soaring through had been a century-old abandoned site used for illegal dumping.

It took our EPA brownfields program to jump-start the cleanup and launch a promising future for this 25-acre riverside land.

So how did we do it? With a lot of help from our friends.(see link at http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bf-lr/newsletter/2007-Spring/Lorax.html)

We provided a brownfields grant in 2005 to assess the site and check its history. The thumbs-up results got people interested in managing the property, and leveraged a quarter million dollars for cleanup and redevelopment.

The Lancaster County Conservancy took it from there, buying the property with grand plans to make it a natural wonder for people, wildlife and migratory birds alike.

Are you aware of other properties that could use similar makeovers? Let us know.

Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.