EPA Announces $467,000 Investment to
Clean Up Contaminated Sites in West Virginia (WV)
PHILADELPHIA (June 6, 2011) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced
$467,000 in new investments that will help clean up abandoned
industrial properties in West Virginia. These brownfields
investments will enable three communities in the state to move
forward with plans for redeveloping and revitalizing areas for
economic and environmental improvement.
“Brownfields initiatives demonstrate how
environmental protection and economic development work
hand-in-hand,” said Shawn M. Garvin, regional administrator
for EPA’s mid-Atlantic region. “Along with generating
jobs, these grants will help West Virginia communities convert
vacant industrial properties into assets for the community, the
environment, and the economy.”
The West Virginia grants include:
·
$200,000 to the Jefferson County Development
Authority to support cleanup efforts
at the former Shepherdstown Dump in Shepherdstown, a historic
village on the Potomac River. The site is known to contain
carcinogens. Cleanup work will reduce risks to human health and the
environment and is expected to allow the Development Authority to
move forward with plans to reuse the site as a public library. The
new library is expected to create jobs and improve literacy
programs for local residents.
·
$200,000 to the City of Ranson in Jefferson County to support the cleanup of
hazardous substances at the former Kidde Fire Fighting Foundry at
215 North Mildred Street. The vacant 5.5-acre site once operated as
a brass and aluminum foundry that manufactured fire suppression
equipment. The site is contaminated with heavy metals and inorganic
contaminants. When the site is cleaned up, the city plans to
redevelop it as Powhatan Place, an integral part of Ranson’s
downtown revitalization plan.
·
$67,000 to the Town of
Addison, a rural community in Webster
County that was once known for its extensive coal mining and timber
industries. The region’s industrial past has left behind many
brownfields properties, including mine-scarred lands, sawmills, and
abandoned railroads. Funds will be used to help clean up a former
railroad site and reduce threats posed by contaminants in soil and
groundwater. The cleanup work will allow the town to move forward
with a master plan to reuse the site as a campground, museum, and
tourism center.
EPA’s brownfields program encourages
redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and
contaminated waste sites. Brownfields grants help to assess, clean
up and redevelop abandoned, contaminated properties known as
brownfields. Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment,
or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence
of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Grant
recipients are selected through a national competition.
Since the beginning of the program in 1995, EPA
has invested 1,895 assessment grants totaling over $447.6 million,
279 revolving loan fund grants totaling more than $273.1 million,
and 752 cleanup grants totaling $140.8 million.
Additional information on the EPA brownfields
program is available at https://www.epa.gov/brownfields . Additional information on grant recipients is
available at https://www.epa.gov/brownfieldsgrant_info/index.htm
.
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