Communities historically have had a difficult time understanding the scope and breadth of their brownfield situation. This lack of information has resulted in part from property owner reluctance to reveal contamination potential because of liability fears. Failure to inform creates a debilitating stigma effect, where properties and entire neighborhoods are avoided because of suspected but unknown contamination potential. In this article, I present a method with which communities can address the brownfield information gap while bypassing individual property owner objections by means of a creative combination of existing formal and informal government records. Using assumptions based on the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) official definition of a brownfield, environmental, land use, and property tax information can be collected on an individual property basis. The resulting data will allow communities to develop a more comprehensive brownfields profile that will help reduce the stigma effect of suspected brownfields and further communitywide redevelopment efforts.

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This article examines the barriers to brownfield redevelopment through a case study analysis of four cities in two Great Lakes states. Four key barriers are identified and investigated: legal liability, limited information, limited financial resources, and limited demand for the properties. Perceived liability emerges as a dominant barrier, and one that compounds the other three barriers. The article analyzes how and why liability perceptions affect stakeholder behavior and provides lessons learned for promoting brownfield redevelopment.

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