Brownfields Program
A Brownfield is land or a building where there is a concern for contamination. And the contamination concern stops us from using the land or building for what we want. If we cannot do what we want, then the land or building is a brownfield.
In line with our mission to protect our lands and peoples, the Consortium began a Brownfield Program in Fall 2006. The Brownfield Program purpose is to 1) Prevent future brownfields through education, outreach, and institutional capacity building, and to 2) Identify, document, and address current brownfields in our villages and lands. The goal is to cleanup all identified sites in a manner that meets with our Elders' approval.
Our Program is currently funded through the US Environmental Protection Agency, under the authority of Section 128(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).
Section 128(a) Brownfield definition:
A Brownfield is a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.
Brownfield definition, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004:
A piece of industrial or commercial property that is abandoned or underused and often environmentally contaminated, especially one considered as a potential site for redevelopment.
Community Members: The Brownfield Coordinator is located in the Native Village of Tununak. The communities of Chefornak, Kipnuk, Newtok currently have local Brownfield Representatives. Click on Program Contacts to the left-side of this page to find your Brownfield Rep. If you are located in Toksook or Nightmute, you are served by the Tununak Coordinator. A designated Brownfield Program computer is also housed in your Tribal Environmental Office. You may access any Brownfield Program information with that computer after receiving permission from your Environmental Staff. To ask questions, or have Brownfield Program staff visit your Village for community education or site evaluation, contact Theodore Angaiak, Brownfield Coordinator, 652-6537. Email tnkbrp@nelsonislandconsortium.org.
Links of Interest:
State of Alaska Brownfield Program