BUFFALO, NY – Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman Chief Operating Officer and senior environmental advisor Martin Doster will be participating in panel discussion on brownfield cleanup strategies at an event hosted by the Metro Regional Leadership Group (Metro) in Portland, Oregon on March 23-24, 2017.  Mr. Doster was the Regional Remediation Engineer for 32 years with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

During Mr. Doster’s tenure with the DEC, New York State enacted a successful brownfield clean-up program that encouraged private-sector cleanups of brownfields and the promotion of redevelopment as a means to revitalize economically blighted communities. Metro invited Mr. Doster, as well as Dave Stebbins, vice president of the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, to speak on behalf of New York State’s program.

“New York State has a robust and successful brownfield clean-up program that many states are interested in replicating,” said Mr. Doster.  “We obviously have a number of success stories in Buffalo and western New York that we can reference which have significantly contributed to the revitalization of the Buffalo Niagara region and economy.”

Representing 1.5 million people in three counties across Oregon, Metro works with communities, businesses and residents in the Portland metropolitan area to chart a wise course for the future while protecting the region’s most beloved attractions.

Brownfields have become a growing issue throughout Oregon and now residents and community leaders are searching for answers in other parts of the country where this problem has been addressed.