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  Brownfields  2004

  Grant  Fact Sheet

     Parkersburg,  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, the President
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. Additionally, funding
support is provided to state and tribal response pro-
grams through a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The City of Parkersburg was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. Sixteen percent of
Parkersburg's 33,099 residents live in poverty. Located
at the confluence of the  Ohio and Little Kanawha
Rivers, Parkersburg was economically dependent upon
the oil and gas booms of the late Nineteenth Century,
and much of its downtown was dominated by oil
storage and refining operations. Many of these indus-
tries closed, as did subsequent chemical, textiles, and
glass manufacturers, leaving contaminated industrial
buildings. Many of these contaminated properties are
adjacent to low-income residential communities.
Parkersburg is a federal Empowerment Zone/Enter-
prise Community (EZ/EC). Assessment and cleanup of
                         Assessment Grant
                         $200,000 for petroleum

                         EPA has selected the City of Parkersburg for a
                         brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be
                         used to conduct Phase I and Phase II assess-
                         ments of up to eight former service stations
                         contaminated by underground storage tanks. Each
                         of these large properties, which range in size from
                         one to five acres, requires an assessment suffi-
                         cient to meet state voluntary remediation plan
                         requirements for leaking underground storage
                         tanks.
                         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: Parkersburg, WV
                         304-424-8415

                         The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
                         yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
                         in this fact sheet are subject to change.
                      the brownfields properties is expected to help the town
                      retain jobs critical to its economy and stimulate recov-
                      ery through the creation of new jobs generated by
                      business expansion and relocation.
                         Solid Waste and
                         Emergency Response
                         (5105T)
                                                                       EPA560-F-04-169
                                                                       June 2004
                                                                       www.epa.gov/brownfields

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