Dec. 15, 2006 — Transformation of 1000 acres of the former Bethlehem Steel plant in Bethlehem, Pa., earned a U.S. Environmental protection Agency (EPA) Phoenix Award for the team responsible for the Bethlehem Commerce Center. The team, which includes Lehigh Valley Industrial Park, Inc. (LVIP) and HDR Engineering, Inc. as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) and the City of Bethlehem, was the EPA mid-Atlantic region's 2006 winner.

Through the team’s efforts, the innovative, community-oriented Bethlehem Commerce Center project brought about remediation of the one-time economic heart of Bethlehem into a flourishing home for commercial buildings and businesses. Since the Bethlehem Steel facility ceased operations almost 10 years ago, redevelopment of the site has been a high priority for Lehigh Valley. The property represents 20% of the City of Bethlehem's taxable land and has been largely undeveloped since the company closed its doors.

"The Bethlehem Commerce Center project proves that environmental protection and sustainable economic development go hand-in-hand," said EPA Regional Administrator Donald S. Welsh. "The team's efforts to return this former industrial property back into productive use while ensuring that the property is effectively cleaned up deserves special recognition. EPA is proud to be a partner with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, LVIP, HDR Engineering and the City of Bethlehem in this huge revitalization venture."

The former Bethlehem Steel property contained the remnants of 140 years of steel manufacturing, including buried building foundation, abandoned infrastructure lines, and contaminated soil and groundwater. When the non-profit Lehigh Valley Industrial Park purchased the property in 2004, Bethlehem Steel Corp. had already put the property on the road to redevelopment, identifying it as the single most important economic development project for the region.

It is estimated that at full build out, the Bethlehem Commerce Center will generate in excess of $1.5 billion in new investment and add 6,000 new jobs to the Lehigh Valley with an annual payroll of $210 million. EPA says the success of this project is the direct result of the innovative work team.

"The work team process has been enormously successful for the Bethlehem Commerce Center project, allowing real-time environmental planning decisions to take place without resulting in project delays during the agency review and approval process," said Dr. William Ahlert, Vice President with HDR Engineering, Inc. "This project is a great example of how strong partnerships between government, non-profit, community and private entities can address environmental challenges effectively in a timely and cost effective manner to the betterment of the community."

Recent redevelopment efforts at the site include:

• Construction of U.S. Cold Storage, a nationwide refrigeration company, which became the first business in the Center in 2004.
• The September 2005 completion of a new $12 million intermodal facility.
• Completion of a $13-million 4200-linear-foot four-lane Commerce Center Boulevard, which opened in December 2005. The Boulevard enabled redevelopment for over 500 acres of the former steel facility.
• Acquisition of approximately 31 acres of the former mills in March 2006 by Primo Produce, which plans to construct a 75,000-square-foot regional produce distribution center.
• The announcement that Receivable Management Services—the City of Bethlehem's largest employer— will move its worldwide headquarters to the Commerce Center, which will house 800 employees.
• Development of two wood products facilities, Foulk Warehousing and Eastern Engineered Wood Products, on 18-acre and 45-acre parcels.
• The purchase of 20 acres by Brandenburg for the purpose of establishing their eastern headquarters and constructing a regional recycling facility.
• LVIP has nearly completed construction of all the major infrastructure associated with the Saucon Tract of the site, which includes the construction of 6,500 linear feet of roadway, and the installation of sanitary and storm sewers and utilities.

The Bethlehem Commerce Center Project also won the prestigious People's Choice Award, which is presented to the project that receives the most votes from the National Brownfields 2006 Conference attendees who participated in the annual conference held in Boston last month.