Bethlehem Casino Opens on Pennsylvania Brownfield Site
Earlier this week, Governor Rendell was in Bethlehem for the grand opening of the $743 million Sands Casino Resort on the former Bethlehem Steel Site. I stopped into the Sands Casino last week, prior to the grand opening, on my way back from a site visit, just to see it for myself. I felt wonderful as I drove past the blast furnaces, seeing they were still there, and marveling at the transformation that had occurred on one of Pennsylvania's first brownfield sites.
I remember walking onto the Bethlehem Steel Site in 1996 and thinking about all the possibilities. It was probably the largest brownfield site in the country covering about 1600 acres. Act 2 was in its infancy, but we were anxious to promote the benefits of brownfield redevelopment and the Bethlehem Steel Site looked like the perfect poster child.
Although Bethlehem Steel was still conducting operations on the Site, it was clearly winding things down in Bethlehem. Steve Donchez had been given the task of identifying reuse opportunities for the Site and he envisioned a Smithsonian Museum of Industrial heritage as well as commercial and entertainment businesses. I remember meeting on many occasions with Ed Wilson, the remediation project manager for Bethlehem Steel and with Dave Tomlinson, the in-house counsel (now at Constellation Energy). The Site, it turned out, was not heavily contaminated. The biggest issue turned out to be that the Site couldn't be managed solely by PADEP in the Act 2 program because it was also subject to RCRA Corrective Action, and the Commonwealth had not been delegated the authority to implement that federal program. As a result, we needed to come up with a strategy for working with USEPA to ensure the success of the brownfield redevelopment project. Tom Fidler at PADEP served as a point person for the Department, working with the NE Regional Office.
The good news was that the USEPA's Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Tim Fields, was a true believer in brown fields redevelopment long before that became fashionable at EPA. He was a natural leader and I had the opportunity to speak on the same panel with him on brownfield redevelopment issues at numerous seminars and videoconferences. He had quickly come to the conclusion that the Bethlehem Steel Site could be used as a showcase for both PADEP's and EPA's brownfield redevelopment efforts, and as Deputy Secretary, I was more than happy to share credit with EPA, knowing that the successful redevelopment of the Bethlehem Steel site could create thousands of jobs and open up new economic opportunities for the City. Long before the Memorandum of Understanding between USEPA and PADEP was signed, the Bethlehem Steel Site served as a pilot project for joint efforts between the two regulatory agencies on brownfield redevelopment. Tim Fields even came out and spoke alongside PADEP Secretary Jim Seif at one of the first press conferences held at the site to promote the joint brownfield redevelopment effort. Years later, the Site received a release of liability under the Act 2 Site Specific Standard.
Over the last few years, portions of the former Bethlehem Steel site have been redeveloped into an industrial park including a cold storage facility and intermodal yard. The opening of the Sands Casino Resort breathes further life into the former industrial site.
Sitting on my shelf I have an Environmental Excellence Award that I received from Hank Barnette, the former Chairman and CEO of Bethlehem Steel. It was given to me and others serving on the Bethlehem Works Site Assessment and Remediation Team back in 1999. It's made of steel forged at the Bethlehem site. When I look at it I feel a sense of loss for a great Pennsylvania company. I think about all the thousands of men and women who worked for generations at the Bethlehem Steel site, making the steel that was the engine for our nation's economy. Now, with the opening of the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, I see the vision of Act 2 further turned into reality. I see all the hard work and effort put into this site by countless people at PADEP, USEPA and in the private sector bearing fruit. I understand that additional redevelopment is in the works for the site, including the long-awaited Smithsonian Museum and possibly a hotel and entertainment complex. If you want to see the benefits of Act 2, you can go to Bethlehem and see it for yourself.
