Fort Myers staff outlines six Brownfield areas, cites incentives and site conditions

Environmental compliance manager Justin Mahone told the Fort Myers Environmental Advisory Board that the city's Brownfield designations are intended to incentivize cleanup and redevelopment by unlocking state funds and other incentives. "The purpose of the Brownfield is to incentivize somebody to come in and not only do the environmental remediation, but also to, receive some financial assistance to redevelop the site," Mahone said during his briefing.

Mahone reviewed the city's Brownfield inventory and gave site details: the Cleveland Avenue Brownfield — "the largest one in the city" — covers about 6.17 acres and was established in September 2021; the downtown waterfront Brownfield was established in 2010 and covers about 19.27 acres; Garden Street (3250 Metro Parkway), originally a wood-recycling then metal-recycling facility, is roughly 44 acres and has documented arsenic and heavy-metal contamination and entered a consent order around 2006; the Dunbar Enterprise Zone includes a South Street site of about 1.6 acres with arsenic linked to historic lime softening; the Wellfield/Eastwood area encompasses roughly 10.22 acres and includes portions of the Eastwood Golf Course and commercial corridor; and the Imaginarium coal-gasification site received a conditional closure in 2011 and remains under engineering and institutional controls. Mahone noted many entries are linked to historical industrial uses and to petroleum-related sources.