 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: R3press@epa.gov EPA Announces the Selection of West Virginia Communities to Receive Nearly $3 Million in Brownfields Assessment and Cleanup Funding Will help underserved communities 'Build Back Better' and address Environmental Justice concerns PHILDELPHIA (May 26, 2021) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is announcing the selection of 151 communities to receive 154 grant awards totaling $66.5 million in Brownfields funding through its Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup (MAC) Grants. West Virginia communities will receive nearly $3 million of this funding. This funding will support underserved and economically disadvantaged communities across the country in assessing and cleaning up contaminated and abandoned industrial and commercial properties. Nationally, approximately 50% of selected recipients will be receiving EPA Brownfields Grant funding for the first time and more than 85% are in small communities. For West Virginia, 85% of the recipients being awarded today are first time grantees, all targeted cities being considered have populations less than 50,000, and most meet the micro community threshold of less than 10,000. "Through our Brownfields Program, EPA is delivering on the Biden Administration's commitment to lifting up and protecting overburdened communities across America, especially communities that have experienced long periods of disinvestment and decay," said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. "These assessment and cleanup grants will not only support economic growth and job creation, but they will also empower communities to address the environmental, public health and social issues associated with contaminated land." "West Virginia is known for the natural beauty of our landscape, making it even more important that we preserve our land for future generations," said Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee. "This funding will help support clean-up projects and assessments of our state's Brownfields sites, improving the quality of our land and removing potentially hazardous waste. I have been a strong supporter of the EPA Brownfields Program and other initiatives that give our state the resources to protect West Virginians' health and clean up contaminated sites for future development. I will continue to do everything I can to ensure West Virginia has healthy communities and a robust economy." The MAC grant recipients in West Virginia are: Assessment Grant $600,000 EPA has selected Belomar Regional Council for a Brownfields Assessment Coalition Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to develop a prioritized site inventory and conduct 15 Phase I and 11 Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to develop two cleanup plans and two reuse plans, and support community outreach activities. Assessment activities will focus on municipalities in the Upper Ohio River Valley in both West Virginia and Ohio. Priority sites include the Great Stone Viaduct, which is a former railroad property in Bellaire, Ohio; the Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Building, which is a 12-story vacant office building in the central business district of Wheeling, West Virginia; the Fostoria Glass Site, which is a former glass company in Moundsville, West Virginia; and the vacant Ohio Valley Medical Center campus and the Grow Ohio Valley Food Enterprise Center in Wheeling. Bluefield West Virginia Economic Development Authority, Bluefield, WV Cleanup Grant $452,292 EPA has selected the Bluefield West Virginia Economic Development Authority for a Brownfields Cleanup Grant. Grant funds will be used to clean up the 300-400 Block of Federal Street. The site is a contiguous city block of parcels in downtown Bluefield that once housed various commercial businesses, including a Montgomery Ward Department Store, an Armed Forces Recruiting Center, Deaton's Music World, a J.C. Penney Department Store, the former Bluefield Bus Depot, and the former Bluefield Fire Department. All sites are currently vacant and contaminated with inorganic contaminants. Grant funds also will be used to support cleanup planning and community outreach activities. Cleanup Grant $181,794 EPA has selected the Boone County Community Development Corporation for a Brownfields Cleanup Grant. Grant funds will be used to clean up the former Lyon Oil Property located at 10 Avenue C in the City of Madison. The cleanup site was formerly used as an ice storage facility and as a bulk petroleum storage facility, and more recently as a used oil collection, storage and recycling facility. It is contaminated with various petroleum-based products, including gasoline, diesel fuel, and used oil. Grant funds also will be used to develop a reuse plan for the property. Assessment Grant $600,000 EPA has selected Kanawha County Commission for a Brownfields Assessment Coalition Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct 18 Phase I and eight Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to develop cleanup and reuse plans for 12 sites and conduct community outreach activities. Assessment activities will focus on the cities of Montgomery, Marmet, Belle, Charleston, South Charleston, and St. Albans. Priority brownfield sites include the former Union Carbide above-ground tank farm, the former Bartlette Burdette Cox Funeral Home, the historic Union Building, a former K-Mart property, the former Montgomery City pool, which includes a fueling location for boat traffic, and the Clendenin Rail Trail Trailhead, which is located on an abandoned railroad right of way. Coalition partners are the City of Charleston, the City of South Charleston, and the Charleston Area Alliance. Cleanup Grant $500,000 EPA has selected the Paden City Development Authority for a Brownfields Cleanup Grant. Grant funds will be used to clean up the Paden City Industrial Park located at 330 South First Avenue in the City of Paden City. For over 75 years, the 8.6-acre cleanup site was used by the Paden City Pottery and Corning Glass Works companies to manufacture dinnerware. The process of making pottery from clay and applying the glaze led to the site being contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals. Grant funds also will be used to support community outreach activities. Assessment Grant $300,000 EPA has selected the Region 4 Planning and Development Council for a Brownfields Assessment Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to develop 10 Phase I and six Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used for cleanup planning and community involvement activities, including 12 public meetings. Priority sites include the former Black Diamond Mining coal loading facility in Sam Black Church, the former Drennen/Grant retail properties and former East Rainelle Grade School in Rainelle, and the former Mullican Lumber Sawmill in Ronceverte, which is located within a federally designated floodplain. Cleanup Grant $359,953 EPA has selected the City of Wheeling for a Brownfields Cleanup Grant. Grant funds will be used to clean up the 3-acre Robrecht Riverfront property at 1905 Main Street in the City of Wheeling. The cleanup site is a former railroad right-of-way dating back to the mid-1800s. Since the 1970s, when railroad operations ceased, the site has been used by trespassers for uncontrolled parking, waterway access, squatting, and illegal activities. It is contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PCBs and heavy metals. EPA's Brownfields funding of $66.5 million in MAC grants include: - $42.2 million for 107 Assessment Grants, which will provide funding for brownfield inventories, planning, environmental assessments, and community outreach.
- $15.5 million for 36 Cleanup Grants, which will provide funding to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites owned by the recipient.
The list of all the fiscal year 2021 applicants selected for funding is available here: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicants-selected-fy-2021-brownfields-multipurpose-assessment-and-cleanup-grants. EPA anticipates that it will award the grants once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied by the selected recipients. Since its inception in 1995, EPA's Brownfields Program has provided nearly $1.76 billion in grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return them to productive reuse. This has led to significant benefits for communities across the country. For example, - The funding announced today will bring the total level of Brownfields grant funding in West Virginia communities to over $37 million since 1997. A total of 99 grants have been awarded to 43 communities which has resulted in 1,285 acres representing 79 properties being made ready for reuse.
- With those funds, West Virginia communities have assessed close to 325 sites, cleaned up 22 sites, leveraged over 1.65 billion dollars in other public and private funding for redevelopment and leveraged close to 5,400 jobs.
- To date, communities participating in the Brownfields Program have been able to attract more than $34.4 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding after receiving Brownfields funds. This has led to over 175,500 jobs in cleanup, construction and redevelopment.
- Based on grant recipient reporting, recipients leveraged on average $20.13 for each EPA Brownfields dollar and 10.3 jobs per $100,000 of EPA Brownfield Grant funds expended on assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund cooperative agreements.
- In addition, an academic peer-reviewed study has found that residential properties near brownfield sites increased in value by 5% to 15.2% because of cleanup activities.
- Finally, analyzing data near 48 brownfields, EPA found an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional tax revenue for local governments in a single year after cleanup—2 to 7 times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of those brownfield sites.
For more on the Brownfields Grants: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-brownfields-grant-funding For more on EPA's Brownfields Program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields
 
|
0 comments:
Post a Comment