By Mary Catherine Brooks
Wyoming County Economic Development Authority was awarded a $200,000 brownfield grant from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to U. S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va.
The funding will be used to conduct community involvement activities, identify sites, perform at least five phase one and phase two environmental site assessments and prepare cleanup plans for mine-scarred areas in the Upper Guyandotte Watershed, Rahall said.
“In working closely with the people of the Rural Appalachian Improvement League and the Wyoming County Economic Development Authority, it’s easy to see their clear cut desire and commitment toward aggressively turning mine-scarred lands into productive, quality properties that will attract new business, new investment, and new opportunity in their communities,” Rahall emphasized.
A brownfield site is property of which the expansion, redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the presence — or potential presence — of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant.
The EPA program allows states, communities, and other stakeholders to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and reuse brownfields.
Additionally, a $200,000 grant was awarded to the West Virginia Region I Planning and Development Council to assess brownfield sites in McDowell County and to provide the county with a means to support redevelopment, which will generate employment opportunities, improve the local tax base and create new green space that will promote a more vibrant community, according to the congressman.
“West Virginia Region I tried for three years to get brownfield assessment dollars for the McDowell County area, and their persistence has finally paid off,” Rahall explained. “I’m confident their ‘don’t give up’ attitude will also prove worthwhile throughout this project as they strive to assist McDowell County in bringing new life and new opportunities into their once thriving communities.”
A third $200,000 grant was awarded to the city of Barboursville to clean up and redevelop a 20-acre site previously used as a brickyard.
The grants are a culmination of a united effort, according to Dr. Tony Szwilski, director of both the Center for Environmental, Geotechnical and Applies Sciences and the Southern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center.
“These grants are one example of how the Southern Brownfields Assistance Center at Marshall University is working very closely and effectively with our cities and communities to bring ‘brownfields’ back to productive use and make a significant contribution to the economic development of the region,” Szwilski said.
“George Carico, the coordinator for the SBAC, is working diligently hand-in-hand with our community stakeholders to inform and guide them through the EPA grant applications and follow-up activities,” he explained.
