Advocates push Connecticut to fund pilot converting brownfields into health-focused 'wellness campuses'
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Summary
Community leaders, health researchers and lawmakers urged the Public Health Committee to back House Bill 5241, a one-year 'triple bottom line justice' pilot to convert brownfields into community farms, learning centers and health-monitoring sites using ICD-10 Z codes and cross-agency remediation. Testimony stressed local asthma burdens, monitoring after remediation, and the need for cross-committee work to align health, environment and housing tools.
Representative Andre Baker told the committee that HB 5241 would create a demonstration pilot to turn contaminated urban lots into community assets that address environmental drivers of disease. "This pilot would demonstrate... how to turn brownfields into health fields," Baker said, describing partnerships with health professionals and students in Bridgeport.
Debbie Sims, representing the Mount Growmore team, described decades of local organizing at the former Mount Trashmore site and urged the state to invest in community-driven remediation and programming. "We are asking you to see what we see... Vacant land that could become healthy space, children who deserve clean air," Sims said, calling for prevention-focused, not just treatment-focused, public health work.
Speakers from the Yale School of Public Health, Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation (LEAF), and local neighborhood groups outlined the pilot's threefold aims: remediate identified contaminants; pair remediation with health services and prevention; and institutionalize ICD-10 Z codes so clinicians can track environmental stressors and connect them to payment and services. Michael Duenas of LEAF said the bill would "institutionalize new data sources" and help target resources to contaminated neighborhoods.
Committee members pressed for specifics and coordination. Members noted that public health, environment and insurance oversight fall under different committees and asked how the pilot would move from data collection to measurable interventions. Witnesses said the project would use phased environmental assessments, monitoring after remediation, and multi-stakeholder governance to ensure safety and follow-through. Sims said the Mount Growmore site is a three-acre parcel on Central Avenue that is "clean and ready for us to develop," while surrounding properties still require additional remediation and monitoring.
Supporters also stressed that brownfields-to-health (B2H) projects already exist in other states and that Mount Growmore reflects two decades of community-led remediation plus ongoing monitoring with DEEP and EPA. Susie Ruehl, a Yale epidemiologist, said the B2H process couples remediation with community priorities and long-term monitoring to prevent continued exposure.
The committee did not take a vote. Members asked witnesses to provide additional technical materials and model language so the bill can be coordinated with other committees (environment, insurance, appropriations). The hearing record shows broad community support for the demonstration pilot and requests for drafting clarifications and cross-agency planning before a final vote.