INTEGRAted Management and Revitalisation of Contaminated SITES

The policy of the Urban Community of Lille in the field of industrial brownfield revitalisation

In the 90^th, when elaborating a policy of urban renewal, appeared the commitment of the Urban Community to industrial brownfields. The treatment of industrial brownfields became one of the major aspects of the strategy of urban renewal and has been integrated in the master plan of urban planning and development decided in 2002. The policy of the Urban Community of Lille in the field of industrial brownfields revitalisation has to bee considered on the level of the whole area of Lille Métropole (85 communes, 600 km²). Its elaboration takes in account the regional and national policy in this field. The first inventory of the industrial brownfields in the area of Lille Métropole is done in 1993 and updated in 2001: there are 214 sites counted on 540 hectares of land. The implementation of this policy has been started in the frame of a contract with “Etablissement Public Foncier” (EPF), a public body, that buys the land, does the work of revitalisation by using its own money as well as state, European and regional funding. At the end of the contract, the Urban Community of Lille buys it over.
Expenditure of EPF: 31 millions €
Funding raised: 13 millions €
Buying over by Lille Métropole: 18 millions €

1. The legal frame : industrial brownfields and pollution
The acquisition of industrial brownfields is directly linked to the question of pollution, to the reuse of the soil, to the legal and technical demands, to the legal responsibility of private and public persons and to financial issues.
It is important to know that in France, there exists no absolute definition of the pollution of industrial brownfields: it is always defined by taking in account the actual and future use of the land.
The principle of “the polluter pays” applies here : the former industrial owner has to pay for the damages caused to nature. For Lille Métropole, the consequence is that sometimes, the acquisition of the brownfields is refused or delayed when searching for the responsibilities. For Lille Métropole, this legal frame implies that each decision or action isn't possible without a previous important legal expertise.

2. The definition of the policy and action work of Lille Métropole
An important study programme of Lille Métropole defines the conditions of revitalisation of a panel of identified sites in link with the towns concerned. The aim is to establish a land offer with economical use of urban renewal for the metropolis.
As soon as the decision is made to acquire the land, the demolition of the existing buildings is planned - if they can't be reused.
When working on a specific site, in order to reduce the costs of the work action, Lille Métropole always starts by doing studies in link with the towns and partners concerned. Step by step, a project is built that includes during the different phases the results of the pollution research and expertise. All along the definition of the project, the urban planners and architects work with agencies specialised on pollution. This method has the advantage that the risk for the Urban Community can be controlled and reduced. During the elaboration of the project, lawyers explicit the legal risks and give also their advice to the possibilities to pursue legally those who are responsible for the pollution noticed.

3. the application: several exemplary sites of Lille Métropole:

• The Union in Roubaix, Tourcoing and Wattrelos : the choice of the architect has been made by taking in account the land strategy in the field of the known pollution of this area
• The Site Rhodia in Marquette, Saint-André and La Madeleine : urban planners, architects, land planners, agencies specialised in pollution and lawyers work together on a common programme.
• The Site PUCK (Khulman enterprise) in Wattrelos: the site revitalised will have an ecological destination, the action plan is elaborated with the town, state departments and the industrial owner Area of Sainte Hélène in Saint André: there is a project of revitalisation including public equipment, housing and the landscape integration of a canal.

4. New strategies and proposals4.1. the partnership with EPF has to be reinforced and renewedA partnership with EPF has the advantage that this public body not only uses its own money, but has also an important know-how and expertise in the field of pollution. An objective for Lille Métropole is to reinforce and enlarge the existing partnership.

• A new programme on land intervention from 2006 on will be elaborated
• Enlargement of the partnership with EPF in link with the future metropolitain plan of housing : a land offer for urban renewal with destination to housing will be very important, a new plan will be elaborated by EPF
• The possibility for the towns to contract directly with EPF

4. 2. the inventory of industrial wastelandThe inventory of industrial wasteland realised in 1993 and 2002 has to be actualised and completed by new tools of inventory (national tool BASIAS for example). This actualisation has to bee realised in partnership with the towns and will allow to find sites of metroplitain interest and to study very early their technical and financial feasibility. A partnership with EPF, with the economical sector and with state departments is necessary to conceive and work with such a tool. A new law, the law Bachelot, gives to the urban community the competence to negotiate the questions of revitalisation of the former sites directly with the industrial owners. 4.3. new proposals An evolution of the French law, so that it would take in account industrial brownfields and the higher costs of revitalising wasteland, is the aim of theses two proposals :

• Allow the fiscal administration to take in account the demolition and cleaning costs on the level of estimations
• to reduce the VAT from 19,6 % to 5,5 % for all the demolition work

The proposals would reduce the global cost of an action work on brownfields and allow to have the real cost of the action work.