Bob Dole: “the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources estimates that there are tens of thousands of…”

“the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources estimates that there are tens of thousands of potential brownfield sites in North Carolina. To date 44 of these sites have $600 million in committed private investment which was raised with less than $500,000 in Federal funds. These 44 sites represent a good step forward to address this issue; however, there are many more steps necessary before we can declare victory. The critical component to this equation is the greater availability of private capital. Currently, the State of North Carolina has 55 more brownfield sites in the pipeline for remediation and the availability of private capital will be essential to this effort. The Nation's mayors have estimated that there are half a million brownfield sites in the United States. Others have said that there may be as many as a million such sites. EPA, in an analysis conducted with George Washington University, has estimated that remediation costs for all brownfield sites in the country exceed $650 billion. The Chamber of Commerce estimates that, at the current rate of cleanup, it could take ten thousand years to clean up all these sites.”