West Virginia Brownfields

News

6/7/2011

EPA Announces $467,000 Investment to Clean Up Contaminated Sites in West Virginia

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."

6/4/2011

Groups plant trees at Barton Bench

Restoration of rare West Virginia habitat takes teamwork and dedication. A multitude of agencies, nonprofit groups and volunteers gathered at Barton Bench on Cheat Mountain to help restore a portion of the state's rare red spruce-northern hardwood ecosystem by planting trees.

"This kind of cooperative energy is becoming not only more common, but necessary," says Evan Burks, partnership coordinator for the Monongahela National Forest.

The Barton Bench area refers to a 90-acre parcel of land mined for coal in the 1970s prior to becoming part of the National Forest system. This tract is a portion of the 40,856 acres acquired by the U.S. Forest Service in the late 1980s that has become known as the Mower Tract. The reclamation techniques employed by the coal operators left the area in a less than desirable condition.

5/19/2011

Community leaders focus on economic development

Community leaders from Brooke and Hancock counties gathered Wednesday at the Weirton Holiday Inn to discuss efforts to bring economic development to the area.

The informal roundtable discussion was arranged by the Brooke County Economic Development Authority and sponsored by the Brooke and Hancock county commissions, Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle and city of Weirton.

4/28/2011

Restoring Red Spruce in Mon National Forest

An old coal mine site in the Monongahela National Forest will be reforested this weekend. Volunteers will meet Saturday for the tree-planting that involves the federal Office of Surface Mining, the National Forest Service and the Arbor Day Foundation.

Friday is Arbor Day, a day designated for more than 135 years to encourage people to plant trees.

Organizers of this weekend’s red spruce tree planting hope at least 100 people will turn out to help reforest a mine site with this native species.

11/06/2010

Sprucing up the Monongahela

CHEAT BRIDGE, W.Va. -- Except for its elevation -- high enough to produce snow this week -- a reclaimed surface mine on the upper slopes of Cheat Mountain's 4,429-foot Barton Knob is not much different from scores of other former mine sites scattered across West Virginia.

"After this area was mined in the early 1980s, the coal company did what it was supposed to," according to regulations and practices in effect at the time, said Shane Jones, an ecologist for the Monongahela National Forest. "It did a good job of keeping the soil on the ground by reclaiming this site to grassland."

10/30/2010

October Issue of Brownfield Renewal Magazine

Small Towns, Big Redevelopment Plans

People: Dawn E. Seeburger
LRS, Principal, Environmental Resources & Consulting, Elkview, West Va.

People: Craig Kasper
PE, CEO, Principal, Hull & Associates

People: Paul D. Mills
City Manager, Ranson, West Va.

Powhatan Place, Ranson, West Va.

07/04/2010

Brownfields Can Be Redeveloped

Q: What exactly is a brownfield site?

A: Brownfields are sites where abandoned, underused, industrial and commercial facilities were once located. These sites were previously used for industrial businesses or some commercial uses. The land may have low concentrations of hazardous waste or pollution with potential to be reused once cleanup is performed. Severely contaminated land with high concentrations of hazardous wastes or pollution would not fall under the brownfield classification.

Mothballed brownfields are properties that owners will not transfer or productively use. Examples of brownfields sites are gas stations and dry cleaners, parking lots, vacant warehouses and factories. Brownfield redevelopment can be an important part of a community, and can create new local jobs, increase property values, eliminate eyesores, enhance economic/tax base development, support sustainable use of land and preserve greenspace.

06/14/2010

Reedsville Revitalization Revs Up

REEDSVILLE, WV - Things are looking lip in Reedsville. And some things are coming down. A committee of town officials and business owners is working to spur economic growth and improve the look of the crossroads town. Plans were spurred by Friends of Deckers Creek (FODC), a nonprofit watershed preservation group that received a $5.OOO grant from the Brownflelds Foundation for Overcoming Challenges and Utilizing Strengths (FOCUS) In West Virginia.

FDDC has been meeting with the community for a year to address barriers to development at the four-way intersection that is at the heart of Reedsville, and to solicit input for other improvements...

05/24/2010

Brownfields Assistance Centers Receive Environmental Partnership Award

CHARLESTON, WV (May 24, 2010) - The Brownfields Assistance Centers at West Virginia University and at Marshall University were recipients of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's Environmental Partnership Award.  The Award recognizes the effectiveness of the collaborative approach the Centers use to help communities identify, clean up and redevelop brownfields sites throughout the state as well as their working relationships with state and federal agencies.


The award was given at WVDEP's10th Environmental Awards Ceremony where West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin and WVDEP Cabinet Secretary Randy Huffman were in attendanceto present the awards.

The Brownfields Assistance Centers were created to empower communities to plan and implement brownfields redevelopment projects. The Northern Brownfields Assistance Center is located within the WV Water Research Institute at WVU's National Research Center for Coal and Energy, while the Brownfields Assistance Center at Marshall University is housed within the Center for Environmental, Geotechnical, and Applied Sciences.

"The success of the Brownfields Assistance Centers is a tribute to Senator Plymale's vision and our close working relationship with the WV Department of Environmental Protection," Dr. Paul Ziemkiewicz, Director of the WV Water Research Institute said. "We appreciate Secretary Huffman's recognition of the hard work of Patrick Kirby, George Carico and the Centers' staff."

Dr. Tony Szwilski, Director of the Center for Environmental, Geotechnical, and Applied Sciences said "The Brownfields Assistance Centers have been extremely productive and proactive in working effectively with the principal stakeholders concerned with brownfields and economic development in West Virginia."


In 2005, the West Virginia State Legislature recognized the lost economic and social value in abandoned and underutilized contaminated lands or "Brownfields." The West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Centers at Marshall and WVU were created to support community efforts and work with the WVDEP and the WV Development Office to turn these Brownfields into productive land again.

For more information on the Brownfields Assistance Centers, visit: www.wvbrownfields.org.

05/03/2010

EPA Announces $800,000 In Brownfields Grants For West Virginia

PHILADELPHIA (April 21, 2010) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $800,000 in brownfields grants to help assess and clean up abandoned industrial properties in West Virginia.

"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 Fayette County Commission to assess and prioritize brownfields properties throughout Fayette County, an area that has a seen a steep decline in industrial activity related to coal mining, hardwood timber harvesting and processing, and rail transportation. To date, there are an estimated 400 brownfields properties identified by the county as needing attention.
• $200,000 to the city of Nitro to assess and update the city's brownfields sites. Downsizing of the chemical industry has led to significant decline in population, increased unemployment and abandoned industrial properties. To date, 54 underused and vacant brownfields sites have been identified in Nitro. Brownfield assessments will provide the city with a more thorough inventory of contaminated sites that have potential for reuse as small-scale commercial properties, greenspace, and recreational facilities.
• $200,000 to the city of Parkersburg to assess and prioritize brownfields properties in Parkersburg, especially in the downtown area where plant closings have left abandoned properties and contributed to increased unemployment. The brownfields assessments are expected to help facilitate cleanups and create economic opportunities for the city.
• $200,000 to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to assess properties along the historic U.S. Route 60 Midland Trail, a national scenic byway located along a 119-mile trail in the Appalachian Mountains. Since the early 1900s, the economies of the 29 towns and rural communities along the trail relied on the bituminous coal, timber, and petrochemical industries. Major job losses in these industries and construction of Interstate 64, which shifted travelers away from the trail, have caused serious economic problems. The area's population has declined, and the scenic trail has been left with many closed and abandoned businesses, including gas stations. Brownfields assessments will clarify conditions at the sites and help facilitate reuse of the sites for historical interpretive stops along the trail and attract tourism and tourism-related jobs to the area.

The brownfields program encourages redevelopment of America's estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites. Since the beginning of program in 1995, EPA has awarded 1,702 assessment grants totaling over $401 million, 262 revolving loan fund grants totaling over $256.7 million, and 655 cleanup grants totaling $129.4 million.

2/2/2010 Brownfields Grant to Provide Momentum for 11 Projects Statewide

9/4/2009 Brownfields Conference in State Journal

9/2/2009 Brownfields Conference in Morgantown Dominion Post

5/2009 EPA Announces $1 Million in Clean-up Grants Awarded to Four Northern WV Communities