4. Remediation 4.1 Introduction 4.1.1 Project Objectives 4.2 Research 4.2.1 Information on Water Systems and Greenspace 4.2.2 Current Remediation Task Force 4.2.3 Housing Age and Lead Remediation 4.2.4 Research Gaps 4.3 Methodology Layer 1 - Softscape vs. Hardscape Layer 2 - Water Proximity Layer 3 - Environmental Remediation Site Boundaries Layer 4 - Housing Age Layer 5 - Classification Code 4.4 Maps Map 1. Softscape and Water Proximity Map 2. Remediation Proximity Map 3. Housing Age and Classification Code Map 4. Suitability Map Map 5. Suitability Map with Vacant Land Overlay 4.5 Remediation Chapter Summary 4.5.1 References
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Goal 4: Remediation
Prepared by: Ryan Grace and Nahshon Jagroop 4.1 INTRODUCTION
With an overabundance of vacant lands in Buffalo, New York, remediating vacant lands will provide the city with additional usable green spaces to help shape the communities which surround them. In addition, remediating lands which surround water systems was of importance in order to protect Buffalo’s water. While researching and studying remediation strategies and implications, we have found several variables which were incorporated into our suitability mapping of the city. Green space amongst the city was one of the important factors for our maps. Our key goal is to be able to remediate available green spaces which can be used by the citizens of Buffalo. Complementary to green space, was our investigation of water. Since unremediated land has the possibility of producing runoff into water, it was important they we ranked location to water systems into our variables. In addition, we found it pertinent to study the sites remediation efforts which are currently part of a remediation program. This will give us an understanding of where the city is currently focusing their efforts and show us which general areas they would like to see improve. Also, housing information will be very important. Housing has two variables to it which make it a pertinent layer in our mapping. First, the older a home is, the more likely it will contain lead paints. These paints make their way into the soil, and therefore, contaminating them. Additionally, these residential homes may contain children living in them. Children are most affected by lead and it is important that we can provide clean space for children. After we studied how these layers interact with each other, we produced a suitability map which shows specific areas where remediated sites would be most beneficial to the community.
4.1.1 Project Objectives -Provide the city with a suitability map which highlights key parcels of land which will be most beneficial to being remediated. -Provide the citizens of the City of Buffalo with remediated land for various uses based on community need; ex: support human habitats and gardens. -Protect the water supply and protect public health safety. 4.2 RESEARCH Our initial investigation started with a meeting at Buffalo City Hall with Green Program Director, Julie O’Neill. Our visit started with a briefing on remediation strategies taken so far, and a way to try and understand implications to future degraded areas. Our next step involved researching briefings on the ongoing efforts to address lead variable contaminants in residential areas. In addition to the lead issues, is the issue with brownfield sites which have been left abandoned after their industrial usage. Their existing conditions, left untreated, pose serious health and safety risks to citizens. Julie mentioned an idea for “productive landscapes” in a sense to re-imagine sites for future development with an ecological design approach that ultimately benefits the neighborhoods and its people. The following data supports our methodology which ultimately benefit the creation of our maps.
4.2.1 Information on Water Systems and Greenspace
Research on water quality and its existing condition was made possible by analyzing research conducted and gathered by the Department of Conservation (DEC) reports. We gather research to understand the dangers of brownfields in close approximation to green space and water. The initial fo2
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cus started off by collecting information on soil and hazardous waste particles that enter water-tables or water bodies within the City. Roughly 70% of the urban-related water pollution in the USA is due to storm water run-off, far exceeding that directly from industry or human wastewater (Forman, 2014). This can be amplified by having that water pass through polluted sites prior to entering the water.
4.2.2 Current Remediation Task Force
4.2.3 Housing Age and Lead Remediation
4.2.4 Research Gaps
The Department of Environmental Conservation’s Division of Environmental Remediation in Erie County is Region 9. DEC responds by investigating site for cleaning up throughout Western New York that are classified as contaminated from past industrial activities. Many of these sites once served as economic engines for the region and contribute to environmental degradation in urban decay, decreased tax revenue while increasing the potential for health problems and population loss. Buffalo’s environmental cleanup of brownfields help to transform sites by restoration of ecological habitat, paves the way for waterfront development, clean energy and recreational opportunities. Cleanup of lead contaminated properties are important to protecting the vitality Western New Yorkers health for residents located in housing dwelling, near on directly on site.
We then turned to understanding the aging housing stock within the city as it addresses one source of lead contamination. The majority of the homes were built in the early 1900s to 1940s and many resident live in them today (EPA, 2016). Many of these homes still have lead based painted walls and sources of other lead products in their building materials. Lead based paints were used on homes up until 1978 when the Federal Government banned their use (EPA, 2016). Homes built before 1940 have a 87% chance of containing lead based paint (EPA, 2016). Homes built from 1940 1959 have a 69% chance, and homes built between 1960-1977 have a 24% chance (EPA, 2016). The lead threat exists both indoors and outdoors. Children eating lead paint chips causes physical and neurological disorders, behavior, learning and intelligence. One program initiated in the City is LEADSAFE; this is Erie County’s Lead Hazard Control Program is a low-cost initiative available to property owners and qualifying families in home-based daycares. The program is funded by federal grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD, 1995) and are made available on a first come, first serve basis. Priority is to be given to properties of households with children under the age of six (EPA, 1996). In addition to lead paints, lead from automobile exhaust also had its effects on the environment. Marina Alberti notes that “urban areas have many sources of metals; automobiles are probably the most global source for metal contain in urban streams.” (Alberti, 2008).
There were many challenges to our project in acquiring data conducted about located brownfield sites in the City of Buffalo. Although general information about brownfields was available, specific information detailing Buffalo’s brownfield sites had restricted access. We noticed many sources of information were proposed, yet not available as if they were still in the process of being conducted. The lack of available data shapefiles for ArcMap GIS limited specific approaches which would have potentially influences our suitability maps. The preceding research helped to start the basis of our layer methodology and helped serve us to develop a better approach for remediation in Buffalo.
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4.3 METHODOLOGY This section explains our ranking system of variables, which were then used for our mappings. These variables then became layers of what we found to be the most pertinent information for remedial strategies. The proceeding layers will show numerical values which have a hierarchical priority. The numbers selected are based off of an arbitrary ranking system which we have created. These numbers range from 0 - 2. The higher the number, means the higher priority it contains. Numbers representing 0 show they are irrelevant to our maps and therefore will not contribute to the outcome of our final suitability maps. Once the numbers were assigned to each variable, we then were able to combine different layers together into one single mapping. Lastly, for the final mapping, we added up all of these variable into one suitability map. Using the sum of these layers was the most efficient way to merge them since it provided us with a broader range of numerical values across parcels, and therefore creating a better hierarchy.
Layer 1 - Softscape vs. Hardscape
Layer 2 - Water Proximity
The first ecological situation which we mapped out was the current green space in Buffalo. Available green spaces will highlight areas of vegetation which can be remediated. Our first step was taking an aerial image of the city of Buffalo, and we dissected it. We were able to select different areas of the map based off their color, and then recreated the map based off the color selections. We broke this down by combing grass, trees, and essentially any form of vegetation which we represented as a softscape layer. Next, the asphalt, buildings, roads, etc. were also merged into a single layer which acted as the hardscape layer. Our ranking for these two layers can be seen below: Layer 1 Ranking System: 1 - Softscape 0 - Hardscape Next we mapped out the location of water systems in Buffalo; these water systems include the Buffalo River, the Scajaquada Creek, and more. We went about doing this by using a shapefile which contained the water systems of Buffalo, and then we took the Euclidean Distance away from them. This technique allowed us to map an equal spread of distance away from the water systems. The distance off of river we chose was based off of the standard deviations it generated. We chose to restrict our ranking of this euclidean distance by only one standard deviation distance away from the water systems. This will gravitate remedial efforts more towards the water systems, which as previously discussed, is an important goal for our group. Layer 2 Ranking System: 1 - One Standard Deviation distance away from river 0- Areas outside of the first Standard Deviation Note: Layer 1 (Figure 1) and Layer 2 (Figure 2) were merged into a more comprehensive map. These figures can be found later in this chapter, and they each show the layer before the merge.
Layer 3 - Environmental Remediation Site Boundaries
The next variable dealt with using the New York State Department of Environmental Conservations set of sites which are currently included in one of the Remedial Programs being overseen by the Division of Environmental Remediation. With this shapefile, we were able to map these specific remediation sites out. Next, we took the euclidean distance off of these sites and 4
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used the standard deviation distance to create a hierarchy in our rank. One standard deviation is the distance closest to these lands, while two standard deviations away is farther from these sites. This layer was important since we wanted to expand onto these remediation areas to start to create more centralized remediated lands amongst the City. Layer 3 Ranking System: 2 - One Standard Deviation distance away from remediation sites 1 - Two Standard Deviations distance away from remediation sites 0 - Areas outside of the first two Standard Deviations
Layer 4 - Housing Age
Layer 5 - Classification Code
As presented in our research section 4.2.3, specific years dealing with the age of houses were of importance to us; therefore, we broke up our ranking system into these years (DEC). We used a shapefile of all of the existing parcels in Buffalo and sorted them by their years built. This was able to be achieved by converting the file using the feature to a raster function. From there, we were able to sort through years and generate a map specific to the years shown below. Layer 4 - Ranking System: 2 - 0 - 1940 1 - 1941 - 1978 0 - 1979 - 2010 This layer is complimentary to Layer 4, since Layer 4 broke up parcels by year, this layer will show which of these parcels are residential homes. We were able to achieve this using the same feature to raster function, however, we broke them up by classification codes. The classification codes were based off of the Property Type Classification and Ownership Codes by the New York State Office of Real Property Services. The classification code which dealt with Residential was the 200 series (NYSORPS, 2006). The codes chosen to be mapped out, with their respective description, are as follows: 210 - One Family Year-Round Residence, a one family dwelling constructed for year-round occupancy (adequate insulation, heating, etc.); 215 - One Family Year-Round Residence with Accessory Apartment; 220 - Two Family Year-Round Residence, a two family dwelling constructed for year-round occupancy; and lastly 230 - Three Family Year-Round Residence, a three family dwelling constructed for year-round occupancy (NYSORPS, 2006). Layer 5 - Ranking System: 1 - 210, 215, 220, 230 0 - Remaining classification codes Note: Layer 4 (Figure 3) and Layer 5 (Figure 4) were merged into a more comprehensive map. These figures can be found later in this chapter, and they each show the layer before the merge. The preceding layers were then transitioned into the mappings which are shown on the following pages.
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4.4 MAPS Map 1. Softscape and Water Proximity
Sum of Layer 1 - Softscape vs. Hardscape and Layer 2 - Water Proximity.
Map 2 - Remediation Proximity
Mapping of Layer 3 - Environmental Remediation Site Boundaries
Map 3. Housing Age and Classification Code
Sum of Layer 4 - Housing Age and Layer 5 - Classification Code. Map 4. Suitability Map Combination of all of the preceding maps combined based on the sum of their priority ranks.
Map 5. Suitability Map with Vacant Land Overlay Map depicting vacant parcels overlaid onto Map 4.
Note: Maps 1 through 5 are scaled to 1 inch = 1 mile 6
Buffalo Urban Ecology: Remediation
Figure 1. Layer 1 Softscape vs. Hardscape
Figure 2. Layer 2 Water Proximity
Figure 3. Layer 4 Housing Age
Figure 4. Layer 5 Classification Code
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Map 1. Softscape and Water Proximity
Priority High Low
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Map 2. Remediation Proximity
Priority High Low
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Map 3. Housing Age and Classification Code
Priority High Low
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Map 4. Suitability Map
Priority High
Low
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Map 5. Suitability Map with Vacant Land Overlay
Priority High
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4.5 REMEDIATION CHAPTER SUMMARY After we analyzed the suitability maps, it was quite evident that there were many areas in
Buffalo which would benefit from being remediated. The map is quite clear where it shows larger parcels of land, or even the more densely compact smaller parcels of land which can be remediated. The large parcels can generally be found at the southern end of Buffalo, with a few exception to the North and Northwest. The smaller parcels can generally be found in the center and eastern part of the map. A mixture of larger and smaller remediated sites would be a good mix for the citizens of Buffalo, especially if they can be located near a water system. You can notice in the transition from Map 4 to Map 5, you lose a good majority of sites, this created the white space shown in Map 5. Each of the sizes of vacant parcels being highlighted have their own strengths. Larger parcels can be used by many people for various activities; such as: new parks, ball fields, etc. While the smaller, more modest sized parcels, can be used for less labor intensive, easier maintained, and more exclusive areas. We conclude the remediation chapter by showing not just the vast amount of available land there is, but showing the vast amount of potential available that these sites have. Opportunities lie in each of the ranked parcels shown, large or small, and especially ones that can be located near a water system. We hope the city of Buffalo can use this mapping to start to highlight parcels which they may deem worthy of being remediated. The remediation team looks forward to seeing the continuing regrowth of Buffalo, New York.
4.5.1 REFERENCES Alberti, M. (2008). Advances in urban ecology: Integrating humans and ecological processes in urban ecosystems. New York: Springer. Department of Environmental Conservation. New York State. DEC Remediation Site Boundaries Downloadable GIS Files. Accessed May 10, 2016. http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/102009.html Environmental Protection Agency. (August 1996). Requirements for Lead-Based Paint Activities in Target Housing and Child-Occupied Facilities; 40 CFR Part 745. Forman, Richard T. T. (2014). Urban Ecology: Science of Cities. Cambridge University Press. HUD, (June 1995) Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control of Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Housing. New York State Office of Real Property Services. (September 01, 2006). Property Type Classification and Ownership Codes. Assessor’s Manual Data Collection and Maintenance of Property Inventories RFV. Accessed May 9, 2016. Note: Maps generated using ArcMap GIS Additionally, Adobe Illustrator was used for graphical improvements. Note: Information in regards to Environmental Protection Agency range from 1996 to 2016. Buffalo Urban Ecology: Remediation
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