Where is there to build a new golf course in heavily urbanized areas, like northern New Jersey? How about a former waste site? Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal featured a story on the Liberty National Golf Course, a $129 million project underway to create a premier golf course on a fomer waste site along the New York Harbor. While more expensive than most, this project is hardly unique. Over the past 40 years, the WSJ reports, over 70 golf courses have been built on former waste sites nationwide. Golf courses are well suited for former waste sites because, unlike office buildings or other structures, they don’t place much weight on the ground, which can essentially squeeze contaminants out of the soil – contaminants that would otherwise harmlessly stay put. This is simply another good example of why the sort of remediation necessary at a given waste site is very much a factor of intended future uses – and any policy that fails to take this into account wastes money, increases environmental risks, or both.