More than 1,711 brownfield sites have been made ready for reuse under Pennsylvania’s award-winning Land Recycling Program since it began in 1995, according to DEP this week, almost all a private, not public expense.

Since 1988, the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Program has taken action to evaluate or cleanup pollution at 220 sites around the state. Funding from HSCA is typically used at most of these sites to do the initial evaluations, or quick emergency type cleanups, with funding for permanent cleanups and reimbursement for emergency cleanup costs coming from responsible private parties.

Of the 220 sites, only about 21 resulted in a primarily state-funded remediation projects or ongoing maintenance responsibility. Of the 220 sites, 19 have been officially listed on Pennsylvania’s Toxic Sites Cleanup List, of which 12 have been cleaned up, again most by private parties.

The Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund is also used to fund Pennsylvania’s 10 percent share of federal Superfund sites in Pennsylvania, emergency response activities and for 315 DEP staff involved in the waste, environmental cleanup and Land Recycling Programs.

7/16/2004