United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-290
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA EPA Brownfields
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Clarksburg, VW
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, and safely clean up
brownfields to promote their sustainable reuse. Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and
commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental
contamination. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years,
with additional funding provided for greenspace) to test assessment models and facilitate coordinated assessment
and cleanup efforts at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels; and job training pilot programs (each funded up to
$200,000 over two years) to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup
of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan
fund program (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years) to provide financial assistance for the environmental
cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and
communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified
approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Clarksburg for a
Brownfields Assessment Pilot. Clarksburg
(population 18,059) is in north central West Virginia
less than 100 miles south of Pittsburgh. The city has
identified four manufacturing areas surrounded by
residential communities as target areas. Dilapidated
structures with the potential to release heavy metals
and asbestos into the environment characterize the
four areas, which have been subject to declining
property values. Seventeen percent of city residents
live below the poverty level, 11 percent are
unemployed, and the median household income is
nearly $2,500 less than that of the surrounding
county.
Clarksburg, which once thrived on industries such as
glass manufacturing, foundries, and coal mining, is
suffering economically and socially from the loss of
4,000 manufacturing and 2,000 coal mining related
jobs. Idle manufacturing sites inhibit the city's
revitalization programs. The city has performed
preliminary environmental site assessments on several
industrial and manufacturing properties through
agreements with the owners. The Pilot will provide
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Announcement:
April 2001
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets sites in
four industrial areas of the city
thatare surrounded by residential
communities.
Clarksburg, West Virginia
Contacts:
City of Clarksburg
(304)624-1677
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 3
(215)814-3129
Visit the E PA Region 3 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/brownfld/hmpage1.htm
Forfurtherinformation,includingspecific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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needed funds to expand on these initial efforts to
revitalize an economically depressed community.
OBJECTIVES
The city's long-term objective is to encourage the
redevelopment of existing brownfields to create jobs
and improve public health, property values, and
quality of life. To further this objective, the Pilot will
inventory and assess brownfields to setthe stage for
the cleanup of vital manufacturing areas, and
encourage citizens to take an active role in improving
their neighborhoods.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Inventoryingbrownfieldssitesinfourmanufacturing
areas of the city;
• Instituting a community involvement process to
ensure residents, businesses, and other interested
parties participate in reuse decision making;
• Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental
site assessments at priority properties; and
• Designing cleanup plans.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Clarksburg, West Virginia
April 2001 EPA500-F-01-290
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