United States
                       Environmental
                       Protection Agency
                       Washington, D.C. 20460
 Solid Waste
 and Emergency
 Response (5105)
 EPA 500-F-01-291
 April 2001
 www.epa.gov/brownfields/
  &EPA        EPA  Brownfields
                       Assessment
                       Demonstration  Pilot
                                                 Ranson  and  Charles Town, WV
 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 Ranson, in partnership
with Charles Town, for a Brownfields Assessment
Pilot. The city also was selected to receive additional
fundingforassessmentsatbrownfieldspropertiesto
be used for greenspace purposes.  Located in
northeastern West Virginia about 10 miles west of
Harpers Ferry, the two adjacent cities are the largest
municipalities in ruralJeffersonCounty, West Virginia.
The transportationcorridorimmediatelyadjacentto
the central business districts of both cities (population
6,012) is the Pilottargetarea. The areais characterized
by old properties posing environmental concerns.
Fifteen percent of residents in the two municipalities
live below the poverty level. Most of these residents
live within one mile of the Pilot areain mixed ethnic
neighborhoods.

Charles Town and Ranson are industrial towns.
Historically, they have depended on a wide variety of
industries, such as tanneries, metal works, lumber
mills, machine shops, railroads, and mining and
manufacturing operations. Many properties are
saddled with environmental issues,  which have
deterred investment in the area and reduced the tax
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Ranson and Charles Town,
West Virginia
Date of Announcement:
April 2001

Amount: $200,000

Greenspace $50,000

Profile: The Pilot will target
sites in the transportation
corridorrunning through both
cities, which historically has
beenthecenterof
manufacturing and commercial
operations.
Contacts:

City of Ranson
(304)725-1010
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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base. Perceptions of environmental contamination
or liability associated with several properties in the
corridor have discouraged land transactions and
growth for many years.

OBJECTIVES

The long-term objective is to redevelop the
transportation corridor into a commerce corridor
thatwillsupportwalkingtrails,arecreationalareafor
the Boys and Girls Club  of Jefferson County,
professional office space, abusiness/technology park,
and light industry. To further this objective, the Pilot
willfoster land transactions and developmentthrough
site assessments, reuse planning, and community
involvement

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Inventorying and prioritizing potential brownfields
  sites in the transportation corridor;

• Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental
  site assessments and remediation planning on
  selected properties; and

• Involving  the  community through periodic
  informationalmeetings, open-house presentations,
  and participation in an existing Joint Coordinating
  Committee.

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                                    Ranson and Charles Town, West Virginia
 April 2001                                                                           EPA500-F-01-291

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