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In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but it is not required to refer for area as brownfield. The term is also used to describe land previously used for industrial or commercial purposes with known or suspected pollution including soil contamination due to hazardous waste.
Examples sites include abandoned factories, landfills, dry cleaning establishments and gas stations. Typical contaminants include hydrocarbon spillages, solvents and pesticides, and heavy metals like lead, tributyl tins, and asbestos.
Many contaminated brownfield sites sit unused for decades as involuntary parks because cleaning cost is more than land worth after redevelopment. Previously unknown underground wastes can increase the cost for study and clean-up. Acquisition, adaptive re-use, and disposal of a brownfield site requires advanced and specialized appraisal analysis techniques.
Remediation techniques include in situ oxidation or thermal remediation, bioremediation, phytoremediation, and soil vapor extraction.