Poster Presentations
Make Sure to Visti the Poster Presentations displayed throughout the Conference
26-17: The MICROSPACE Project: Microbial Communities Supporting Public Areas and Clean Environments
Catherine Armbruster, Carnegie Mellon University
Brownfields, former industrial sites contaminated with hazardous compounds, pose long-term risks to communities and hinder redevelopment. Hazelwood Green, a former steel coking facility in Pittsburgh, has been remediated but remains impacted by benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene (BTEX), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Conventional remediation, which relies on excavation and burial, often leaves residual pollutants in the subsurface, limiting reuse of these lands as safe public spaces. Yet chronic exposure to contaminants can enrich microbial communities with the capacity to degrade them, offering a sustainable but underutilized path for remediation. The Microbial Communities Supporting Public Areas and Clean Environments (MICROSPACE) project will harness this potential by using shotgun metagenomics, metabolic modeling, and environmental chemistry to identify microbial taxa and consortia capable of BTEX and PAH degradation at Hazelwood Green. Equally important is equitable community engagement. Hazelwood residents face environmental inequities and limited STEM opportunities, challenges MICROSPACE will address by connecting local high school students and teachers with CMU’s Pre-College program in Computational Biology and the Summer Academy for Math and Science. Each summer, students will study microbial communities at Hazelwood Green and gain hands-on training in metagenomics and automated biology. By combining Pittsburgh-based microbial ecology with inclusive education, MICROSPACE advances remediation and youth empowerment, transforming brownfields from contamination legacies into platforms for innovation, learning, and community resilience.
26-42: Brownfields Remake Main Street
Sean Garrigan, Stromberg Garrigan & Associates, Inc.
Shamokin, PA – How a Town Once Known as the Hub of Anthracite Coal Mining is Reinventing Itself as an Outdoor Recreation Mecca – Across Appalachia, underserved communities experiencing significant changes in their economic employment base are also subject to dramatic disinvestment in their centers of commerce and social services, further compounding decline. The City of Shamokin, PA is one community overcoming these challenges by tapping into several U.S. EPA and other state and federal programs to support a local faith-based revitalization initiative. Its Environmental Justice-based initiative has capitalized upon a burgeoning recreation economy stimulated by the Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Area (AOAA), an 8,000 acre (and growing) outdoor adventure park located on former coal mine scarred lands that are located less than a three hour drive from New York City. The AOAA was named one of the top ten destinations in the country for ATV’s, full-size vehicles, and dirt bikes and includes hundreds of miles of diverse trail types. Undertaking an initiative branded Plan GOShamokin, the city has created jobs, built parks, removed blight, and rehabbed and preserved buildings, while maintaining the historic and cultural character of town. The vision of hundreds of residents and community partners led to the formation of a plan touted in the New York Times as, “A model for what is needed for much of rural America.
26-43: Harrisburg’s Urban Waterways – Resiliency, Placemaking, and Economic Development with a Brownfields Spin
Sean Garrigan, Stromberg Garrigan & Associates, Inc.
Paxton Creek has been a mostly forgotten waterway running adjacent to downtown Harrisburg, PA. Its post-industrial context has been subject to minimal economic investment for decades despite its central location within the city and its proximity to downtown, the State Capitol, and the city’ major transportation center which includes Amtrak inter-city rail service. A combination of chronic flooding, environmental issues, and transportation connectivity have plagued the area. EPA brownfields funding provided the resources needed to address these issues and plan strategic public investment, specifically de-channelizing the creek as a method of addressing flooding impacts and creating a dramatic new placemaking in the form of a linear public greenspace. This innovative and integrated resiliency approach will help existing businesses and property owners, while attracting significant private mixed-use/mixed-income redevelopment investment to create an entirely new development district in Pennsylvania’s capital city.
26-50: A Breath of Fresh Air — How Air Monitoring is Helping Transform a Port Brownfield into a Hub of Green Energy
Paul Pickering, Aeroqual
The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) is undergoing a Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) to redevelop the derelict port into a world-class hub for offshore wind operations in New York. Upon completion, it will become the largest dedicated port facility for offshore wind staging and maintenance in the United States, supporting the nation’s green energy objectives. The SBMT will create thousands of jobs and generate billions of dollars in economic activity, while facilitating wind power for millions of homes in the Northeast.
As a BCP-designated site, the project must comply with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) guidelines, including the implementation of a site-specific Health and Safety Plan (HASP) and a Community Air Monitoring Plan (CAMP) during remediation activities. The HASP and CAMP establish procedures to protect onsite workers and the local community residents, including continuous monitoring of airborne contaminants of concern and measures to suppress dust and odor.
We present the site’s history, investigative findings, remedial cleanup design, and how Tetra Tech leveraged next-gen air monitoring technology to overcome challenges and streamline compliance with local regulations. Lessons from the case study inform how technological advances can be used to address challenges with air monitoring on brownfield sites, including power and data issues, off-site contaminant interferences, cost-effective targeting of mitigation measures, and maintaining data hygiene and defensibility on sites with high community interest. Insights from this well-executed air monitoring program showcase how compliance and technology support brownfield cleanups that protect onsite workers and safeguard public health and environmental integrity.