Brownfields  2005
  Grant  Fact  Sheet
       Clarksburg,  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 Clarksburg has been selected to receive a
brownfields cleanup grant. Clarksburg (population
16,743) is an old industrial town located in north central
West Virginia. The city has experienced a significant
decline in industrial operations since the mid-20th
Century, when manufacturing and the coal mining
industry provided most of the area's employment. The
loss of approximately 4,000 manufacturing jobs and
2,000 coal mining-related jobs has had significant
economic and social impacts. Nearly 20 percent of
Clarksburg  residents live in poverty. With 60 percent of
the workforce dependent upon jobs outside of the city,
young people are moving out, leaving behind an aging
population in the neighborhoods established around
many of the abandoned industrial and manufacturing
   Cleanup Grant
   $80,000 for hazardous substances
  EPA has selected the City of Clarksburg for a
  brownfields cleanup grant. Grant funds will be
  used to develop final cleanup specifications and
  remove contaminated soils and other materials
  from the West Virginia Mack property at Ohio
  Avenue and North Fourth Street. Funds  also will
  be used to conduct community involvement
  activities. The site has been used for heavy
  industry, including a forge, warehouse, machine
  shops, iron works, garage, truck repair shop, and
  commercial salvage yard since the early 1900s.
   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 Clarksburg, WV
  304-624-1611
  The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
  yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
  in this fact sheet are subject to change.
centers. Although the city is located near two major
highways, the lack of greenfield sites and the perceived
impediments of the brownfields sites have driven
manufacturing and commerce outside of the city.
Cleanup of brownfields properties will remove eye-
sores, eliminate potential health threats, and help the
city attract industry and commerce. This, in turn, is
expected to bring new job opportunities, increase
property values and the city's tax base, and enhance
the area with added greenspace.
                                                  Solid Waste and
                                                  Emergency Response
                                                  (5105T)
                         EPA560-F-05-180
                         May 2005
                         www.epa.gov/brownfields

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