Brownfields  2005
  Grant  Fact  Sheet
       Charleston,  WV
EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders in economic development
to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up,
and sustainably reuse brownfields. Abrownfield site is
real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse
of which may be complicated by the presence or
potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant,
or contaminant. On January 11, 2002, President George
W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability
Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the
Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to
eligible applicants through four competitive grant
programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund
grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Addi-
tionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal
response programs through a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The City of Charleston was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. Charleston (population
53,421), the capital of West Virginia, is located at the
confluence  of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers. It is the
most populous city in the Kanawha Valley, a region
with a rich history of chemical, gas, and coal produc-
tion and excellent transportation access facilitated by
the navigable waterways  and three major interstate
systems. The decline in these industries has left the
city with a proliferation of abandoned and underutilized
properties, and resulted in a nearly 40 percent decline
in population over the past 40 years. While the poverty
and unemployment rates  city-wide are average, these
rates go up  to 67 and 18 percent, respectively, in the
  Assessment Grant
   $200,000 for petroleum

   EPA has selected the City of Charleston for a
   brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be
   used to conduct community outreach, inventory
   and rank sites, perform an estimated 12 Phase I
   and six Phase II environmental site assessments,
   and develop remedial, reuse, and greenspace
   plans for sites with potential petroleum contamina-
   tion around the city.
   Contacts
  For further information, including specific grant
  contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
  news and events, and publications and links, visit
  the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/
  brownfields.

  EPA Region 3 Brownfields Team
  215-814-3129
  http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bfs/index.htm

  Grant Recipient: City of Charleston, WV
  304-348-8035, ext. 220

  The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
  yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
  in this fact sheet are subject to change.
primarily African-American pocket communities that
are disproportionately impacted by brownfields.
Median household income in these communities is 22
percent of the Charleston area-wide median. Assess-
ment and eventual cleanup of the brownfields sites will
help the city in its goal of reducing public health
hazards, including the high incidence of cancer, that are
suspected to be related to the years of industrial
environmental contamination. Redevelopment is also
expected to increase the local tax base and rid the city
of unsightly areas.
                                                  Solid Waste and
                                                  Emergency Response
                                                  (5105T)
                         EPA560-F-05-179
                         May 2005
                         www.epa.gov/brownfields

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