Crown Land: Indicators and Statistics - Ministry of Forests

Brownfields are abandoned, vacant, derelict
or underutilized commercial or industrial
properties where past actions have resulted
in actual or perceived contamination and where
there is an active potential for redevelopment. 13
Left as they are, brownfield sites are of
little economic value and can pose human
health and environmental risks.
In 2008, the Province introduced the BC
Brownfield Renewal Strategy to encourage
more brownfield redevelopment across BC
by addressing policy, regulatory, tax, and
funding issues, and removing information
barriers to brownfield renewal. The strategy:
• Creates a more effective public policy
regime for liability and risk;
• Applies strategic public investments
to encourage redevelopment;
• Develops a number of approaches
to build capacity and awareness of
redevelopment opportunities; and
• Leads by example through the
development of key Crown brownfield
sites.
Box 1 Brownfields on Crown Land
Current estimates are that there are between 4,000
and 6,000 brownfield sites across BC, often in or
near communities. Sites include closed service
stations, former drycleaners, abandoned mines,
old industrial waterfronts, and former rail yards.
At present there are eight brownfield sites on Crown
land at various stages of management, including
New Westminster Gas Works, a 0.4-hectare site
less than a kilometre from the Fraser River. This
site was part of a large coal gasification plant
from 1887 to 1929. It is believed that the coal
13 Cleaning up the Past, Building the Future: A National Brownfield
Redevelopment Strategy for Canada. (National Round Table
on the Environment and the Economy, 2003)
gasification operation was the primary source of
site contamination. Government is completing a
detailed site investigation to determine the precise
level of contamination and the best way to clean
it up.
The redevelopment of brownfield sites in BC gets land
back to productive use and can provide many social,
environmental and economic benefits:
• Re-use of infrastructure such as roads and utilities;
• Increased tax base from lands that would
otherwise sit vacant;
• Enhanced quality of life through neighbourhood
revitalization;
• Increased economic development and job
creation;
• Increased preservation of farmland and green
space;
• Reduced urban sprawl pressures; and
• Reduced risks to the natural environment and
human health and safety.
Redevelopment options to preserve the former Gas
Works building on the site are being reviewed by
the City of New Westminster, with the potential to
turn the site into a park or construct a new fire hall
on the property. Redevelopment will yield social,
economic and environmental benefits for the City
by removing contamination and revitalizing an
unused parcel of land with a use that benefits the
community.
For additional information on brownfield
redevelopment visit the BC Brownfield Renewal
website.
Available:
http://www.brownfieldrenewal.gov.bc.ca/.
Ministry of
Forests, Lands and
Natural Resource Operations
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