Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast (BCONE)
BCONE is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission and objective is to provide education on the benefits of brownfield remediation and sustainable redevelopment and to work with member states and brownfield stakeholders to facilitate brownfield cleanups within member states. BCONE’s outreach workshops, events, and its annual Northeast Sustainable Communities Workshop (NSCW) exemplifies the educational mission of BCONE. BCONE members have extensive experience in the brownfield remediation and redevelopment process and include state regulatory agencies and brownfield practitioners in the fields of environmental remediation, land use consulting, real estate, law, land development, and green jobs training programs that supply well-trained, accredited, and certified entry-level technicians for a variety of brownfield and green energy jobs.

James Snook has been an active volunteer BCONE member since 2011.  His various BCONE activities have included a focus on active participation in conference calls, public speaking, government and committees, event planning and coordination, promoting membership, gathering sponsorship, and outreach.  He has been actively involved in BCONE’s conferences, seminars, events, meetings, panels, and presentations.  He has written many Eblast articles, moderated panels, and provided introductions at various conferences. 
 

In 2014, Mr. Snook became the host, co-coordinator and featured speaker for several BCONE workshops and events.  He was the BCONE host, featured speaker, and co-planner of BCONE’s 2014 Woodbridge Brownfield Event that included a workshop and bus tour of sites and wetland revitalization projects. The event was focused on the topics of municipal Brownfield remediation, green infrastructure, and the emerging LSRP program. This 2014 Woodbridge Event included a bus tour, educational workshop, business expo, and networking event.  It was very successful and led to a series of workshops and networking events.  At two of these BCONE workshops in 2016, he was the host, co-coordinator, and moderator of a panel presentation that addressed assisting municipalities with emerging LSRP regulations. 
 

In 2015, Mr. Snook was selected as lead member of BCONE’s Pennsylvania Regional Council and created an expansion committee.  He was elected as the BCONE Secretary in 2016, which is an Officer position.  As the BCONE Secretary, his primary responsibility was the organization and coordination of BCONE’s monthly conference calls and meetings throughout the entire BCONE expansion process. In 2016, BCONE expanded to add a bi-monthly conference call to include attendants from the newly created Advisory Council. The tasks of the Secretary significantly increased along with the overall expansion and fluctuation of BCONE’s Advisory Council, members, email chains, committee lists, etc. In 2017, he was the chairperson of the BCONE Pennsylvania Expansion committee which held its own events, meetings, and conference calls.
 

In 2016, he was a featured speaker at BCONE’s 7th Annual NSCW Conference, where he spoke to the ballroom about emerging green remediation best management practices. He provided BCONE’s closing remarks at the 2017 BCONE Regulatory Update with NJSWEP at NJDEP public meeting room. At the 2017 National Brownfield Conference, he provided the BCONE introduction for a panel presentation and also provided my own presentation on Greener Cleanup Projects. 
 

In 2017, Mr. Snook began planning a significant kick-off event for the BCONE Pennsylvania Expansion committee, which took over a year to plan and coordinate.  n 2018, he was BCONE’s coordinator, emcee, tour guide, and moderator for the April 2018 Lehigh Valley Arts on Brownfields event. This was a complex event that included a bus tour, educational workshop, expert panellists, business expo, and networking event. 
 

For 2020, I was elected onto the BCONE Board of Directors as the first Chairperson of Vermont, which is part of BCONE’s New England expansion efforts.  After attending the New England Brownfield Conference, BCONE intends to hold workshops in CT, MA, and VT in 2020-2021. The initial action plan for Vermont is to initiate, coordinate, and organize efforts toward a BCONE kickoff workshop. The workshop will promote environmental stewardship through educational outreach to the public and develop Vermont as a new BCONE member state.

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Click on the following link to view 45 photos of the 2014 Woodbridge workshop on the BCONE website:

https://www.brownfieldcoalitionne.org/Woodbridge-Event-Photos

 

Click on the following link to view 14 photos of the 2018 Lehigh Valley workshop: https://www.brownfieldcoalitionne.org/lehigh-valley-arts-on-brownfields