FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 25, 2002

San Francisco -- The California Center for Land Recycling (CCLR or "see-clear") announces their three Project Learning Program recipients (PLPs) for 2002-2003, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative (LANI), the Sierra Business Council (SBC), and Women Organizing Resources, Knowledge and Services (W.O.R.K.S.). CCLR's three PLPs each receive a $25,000 grant as well as technical assistance to undertake brownfield remediation and revitalization projects in their community. A brownfield site is "real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant."

CCLR's 2002 grantees share the desire to turn underutilized land into a community benefit. Each project is unique, diverse, and requires substantial community involvement. Most importantly, they all have the ability to leverage small, yet strategically applied, amounts of financial and technical assistance into a community benefit.

The Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative will use their CCLR grant to collaborate with members of the San Pedro neighborhood and Councilwoman Janice Hahn's office to redevelop an abandoned gas station site at the gateway to the San Pedro community. LANI will lead the cleanup and redesign of this blighted area into a neighborhood welcoming park.

The Sierra Business Council plans to use their CCLR grant in partnership with the Town of Truckee to redevelop an underutilized railyard site adjacent to Truckee's historic downtown. The site offers a critical infill opportunity for a community working to contain its growth while providing much-needed affordable housing for the area.

W.O.R.K.S. will use CCLR funds and technical assistance to redevelop a vacant former oil well site in the Temple-Beaudry neighborhood of Los Angeles into 24 units of affordable housing. The W.O.R.K.S. plan includes on-site services such as access to computers, job training and after-school tutoring for residents.

CCLR encourages and facilitates land recycling in ways that revitalize urban areas and consequently discourages urban sprawl and conserves open space. The Project Learning Program seeks to study the conditions that contribute to abandonment and underuse of brownfields in distressed communities. With this information, CCLR tests innovative solutions on real-world projects to provide examples for other projects to utilize.

"This grant from CCLR will finally enable us to address this area of blight at the entrance to our community," Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn. "First impressions are lasting impressions and I am looking forward to turning this contaminated vacant property into a magnificent park to welcome visitors and residents to San Pedro."

Stephanie Shakofsky, CCLR, Executive Director, "In our work we witness every day the devastating effects these sites can have on the community spirit. These sites are abandoned because of liability risks, cleanup cost uncertainty, complicated and confusing regulatory requirements, financing availability difficulties, and the lure of agricultural and open land for new development. While these legal, regulatory and financial roadblocks are bad for everyone, they are particularly hurtful to low-income communities where these sites are often found in abundance. The failure to redevelop brownfields translates into potentially more exposure to toxics and the loss of economic and housing benefits that can come from appropriate redevelopment."

CCLR repairs fractured communities and discourages urban sprawl through creative private, public, and nonprofit partnerships. Our work is accomplished through training, technical assistance and small grants for communities who are attempting to turn around environmentally distressed properties, more commonly known as brownfields.