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March 30, 2012

Sutherlin elected to serve on Louisiana Brownfields Association

Dr. John W. Sutherlin, co-director of the Social Science Research Lab and associate professor of political science at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, was elected to the Louisiana Brownfields Association to represent the Monroe area.

"I was honored to be nominated and will do my best to serve," said Sutherlin.

The LBA, through community outreach and education, promotes a wide array of Brownfields-related goals, objectives and initiatives, including environmental restoration, economic development and revitalization, natural resources preservation, enhancement of financial and regulatory incentives, and protection of human health.

The LBA was founded in Baton Rouge in 2006.

Sutherlin has been involved in Brownfields projects since the early 1990s.

He produced and directed the first documentary film series on Brownfields and has made presentations around the U.S. and Europe on reclamation of polluted properties.

Through the SSRL, Sutherlin has helped communities across Louisiana secure Brownfields grants to clean up properties and put them back into productive use.

In 2007, Louisiana passed one of the most important laws to assist with Brownfields redevelopment. Sutherlin was important in crafting that legislation.

"After completing the film series, I knew that Louisiana had to put together a statewide incentive package to leverage monies from the private sector," Sutherlin noted, "So I began working with the legislature and we eventually passed the Louisiana Investor Tax Credit bill that has been instrumental in improving the quality of life for communities wherever there has been polluted properties."

Every year, Sutherlin attends Brownfields grant training and other workshops sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

For more about the LBA, visit www.labrownfields.org.

For more about the SSRL, visit ulm.edu/ssrl.

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