GOPC and the Conference Advisory Committee have established the 2025 Ohio Brownfields Conference panels and schedule for the activities of the day. See below for the schedule and panel descriptions. Panelists will be announced shortly.

As with past conferences, GOPC is seeking continuing learning education credits, including AICP credits through APA Ohio, CLE credits through the Ohio Supreme Court, and CP credits through Ohio EPA.

An Overview of Brownfields Funding
Funding at the state and federal level has allowed communities to tackle brownfields projects over the past five years with Ohio’s investment of nearly $700 million through the state brownfield grant program and a once-in-a-generation investment in brownfields funding at USEPA. While uncertainty remains about federal dollars, dollars are still available. This panel will provide an overview of funding available for technical assistance, brownfield assessment and cleanup projects, and planning and redevelopment.

The Role of Brownfields Redevelopment into Housing for Ohio’s Communities
Communities across the state face a housing shortage, and community leaders are looking at all avenues to increase housing production. Brownfields are often prime locations for housing, frequently located in urban or suburban areas and often situated around existing neighborhoods that are already equipped with infrastructure, such as roads and utilities, making them ideal for housing development. This panel will explore how brownfields can be a tool in the “above all” solution to housing, as well as the unique challenges to successfully repurpose brownfield sites for residential use.

Assessment to Action: Planning, Collaboration, and Follow-Through for Successful Brownfield Revitalization
The journey from a site assessment to a successful cleanup and redevelopment can be complex, but it’s crucial for transforming underused properties into vibrant community assets. This panel will focus on why an assessment is a great starting point, and how you can move an assessment into cleanup and redevelopment. Hint: it takes planning, coordination, and collaboration! The panel will touch on tips and tricks to secure financing, the importance of collaboration between developers, environmental consultants, and local stakeholders, and how to plan for future community-responsive redevelopment.

The Unique Role of Land Banks in Brownfields Redevelopment
Join this panel to hear from Land Banks directly about the unique role they plan in brownfield redevelopment. Over the past few years, Land Banks have been heavily involved in the state’s $700 million investment in the Brownfield Remediation Program. Hear from Land Banks on their long-term strategies, technical support they need (and sometimes don’t need!), and what successful partners look like with Land Banks, community leaders, and consultants.

Why Brownfields Should be Part of Your Community’s Planning
Brownfields can serve as a catalyst for revitalization and redevelopment in a community, but this requires communitywide planning and vision-setting. Through proper planning, a community can successfully set a vision for post-cleanup redevelopment of a site – helping to secure funding, enhance community engagement, and lead to the best outcome possible. Brownfields do not exist in a vacuum, and other priorities can take precedent for a community. This panel will share the importance of including brownfields in communitywide planning, and how communities can be prepared now to take advantage of funding opportunities when they arise.

Brownfields: Where Economic Development Meets Community Development
Brownfields often exist at the intersection of Community Development and Economic Development, as the end-goal of brownfield cleanup and redevelopment is often centered on economic development. This panel will share how the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields can create stronger and more connected communities, cultivating better places to live, work, and play, while also contributing to traditional economic development. This session will explore how brownfields can be used as a tool for catalyzing investment, and fostering vibrant, inclusive community-based redevelopment.

Brightfields 101: How “Brightfields” Can Reuse Brownfields and Reenergize Your Community
Solar development on distressed properties such as brownfields is becoming increasingly common throughout the United States. Join Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) to discuss the “what”, “why”, and “how” of brightfields, including current market trends and technical assistance available. By understanding what is possible, communities and site owners can plan to repurpose their brownfields with clean energy – and how this can complement broader revitalization. This interactive session will be great for beginners and more experienced stakeholders alike - serving more as a 101/201-type session.

For over 40 years, RMI has leveraged techno-economic expertise, whole-systems thinking, and technical partnerships to research, analyze, and drive change on the massive scale needed to support a clean energy transition for all. RMI leads the Brightfields Accelerator, a partnership with Kansas State University's Technical Assistance to Brownfields program, which can also provide follow up support to participants to advance brightfields projects. 

Brownfields in the Eye of the Developer
Developers are an integral piece to the “brownfields equation,” working alongside environmental professionals, local governments, and other stakeholders. Engaging a developer before the assessment and cleanup of a brownfield takes place can expedite redevelopment of the site. This panel will touch on how developers view brownfields, and the different ways developers assess the potential of a brownfield site by considering factors such as location, infrastructure, market demand, and community needs. Experts will share what local governments should consider when exploring the cleanup and redevelopment of a brownfield in their community, and how to best engage with a developer in the process.

Ohio EPA Voluntary Action Program (VAP) Track

Attendance at each panel counts toward VAP CP Credits

Impacts of Ground Water on the Vapor Intrusion Pathway
This panel is a technical discussion on the influence of ground water on the vapor intrusion pathway. This panel will discuss the importance of proper site characterization, considerations for preferential pathways (such as fractured soils), and post-remedial verification of vapor concentrations from ground water source areas. 

Moderator: Madison Graham, Ohio EPA
Speakers: Kamalpreet Kawatra, Ohio EPA; and Jason Reed, Ohio EPA

Dry Cleaners and the Voluntary Action Program
This panel will discuss the collaborative efforts of multiple public entities at the Local, State, and Federal levels to investigate and address contamination from the former American Cleaners in Mingo Junction, Ohio. After the business was closed and abandoned in the 1990s, the Jefferson County Land Bank was able to partner with the Jefferson County Port Authority and a regional coalition to prepare a Phase I Property Assessment and limited site investigation. After the dry-cleaning chemical tetrachloroethene (PCE) was identified at the property, additional funding was obtained through multiple sources to complete extensive site characterization. This project represents collaboration between multiple public entities, and the leveraging of multiple public funding sources to meet the project goal of brownfield cleanup. The panel will also discuss basic to intermediate concepts on dry cleaning chemicals, environmental site investigation, and remediation of soil, groundwater, soil vapor, and indoor air contamination.  

Moderator: Richard Murray, Ohio EPA
Speakers: Brent Smith, Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc; and Robert Naylor, Jefferson County Port Authority

Case Study on National Acme
This session addresses the environmental and economic challenges posed by illegal dumping, featuring regulations, existing VAP NFA/CNS issues, enforcement strategies, community engagement, and cleanup programs to protect properties and natural resources. A panel of experts, including representatives from the Cuyahoga County Land Bank, Burgess & Niple, and Ohio EPA will share insights from the National Acme Site—a 24-acre brownfield in an environmental justice neighborhood plagued by illegal dumping and hazardous conditions. Attendees will learn how to navigate complex environmental hurdles, address VAP NFA Amendments, and foster collaboration to resolve similar challenges in their communities, transforming problem sites into revitalized assets.

Moderator: Mary Mahaffee, Ohio EPA
Speakers: Tom Mignery, Burgess & Niple; Megan Oravec, Ohio EPA; and Cuyahoga Co. Land Bank

Activity and Use Limitations
Activity and Use Limitations (AULs) are commonly used in brownfield redevelopment and can greatly reduce the cost of remediating contaminated property, often allowing redevelopment of sites that would otherwise sit vacant.  AULs may include prohibiting residential land use or groundwater extraction, requiring vapor mitigation, or maintaining caps placed over contaminated soil. AULs are memorialized in an Environmental Covenant or other instrument that is recorded with the deed to the property. Despite their advantages, there are also downsides – particularly when redevelopment plans change.  The cost for monitoring, reporting, and upkeep must also be considered, along with the potential liability and risk if a property owner, or future owners, do not fulfill obligations. AULs on a property can mystify potential buyers. The goal of this panel is to educate participants so that they are not afraid of AULs but are instead equipped to incorporate them in their decision-making processes.

Moderator: Justin Parrett, Ohio EPA
Speakers: Nate Wanner, CP, Atlas; Sarah Lynn, Ohio EPA; and Joe Reidy, Thrive