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  Brownfields  2006

  Grant  Fact Sheet

      Redevelopment

      Authority of  the

            County of

      Washington, PA


EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders 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 Redevelopment Authority of the County of
Washington was selected to receive two brownfields
assessment grants. Washington County (population
202,897)  is an 863.6-square-mile area of western
Pennsylvania bordered on the east by the
Monongahela River. Once a center of the steel, glass,
and mining industries, the county includes properties
that provided thousands of high-paying jobs in the area
that now are idled. As a result, many of the 323
 Assessment Grants
 $200,000 for hazardous substances
 $200,000 for petroleum

 EPA has selected the Redevelopment Authority of
 the County of Washington for two brownfields
 assessment grants. Hazardous substances grant
 funds will be used to develop an inventory of
 sites; conduct outreach, program development,
 and community involvement activities; perform
 approximately ten to 20 Phase I and five to ten
 Phase II environmental site assessments; and,
 develop reuse plans for sites around the county.
 Petroleum grant funds will be used to conduct the
 same activities at sites with potential petroleum
 contamination.
 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: Redevelopment Authority of the
 County of Washington, PA
 724-228-6875

 The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
 yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
 in this  fact sheet are subject to change.
identified brownfields sites and abandoned mine lands
pose a threat to the county's watershed, local streams,
and the downstream Ohio River Watershed. The
presence of contaminants, such as iron and aluminum
oxide in retention ponds and wetlands, creates a
significant risk for the 30 percent of residents that
depend on wells for potable water. The poverty rate for
the county is nearly ten percent, and that of the munici-
                                               Solid Waste and
                                               Emergency Response
                                               (5105T)
                        EPA 560-F-06-058
                        May 2006
                        www.epa.gov/brownfields

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palities within the Monongahela River corridor is 13.3
percent. Assessment and eventual cleanup of the
brownfields sites is expected to reduce the health risks
in the community, help generate resources for the
revitalization of brownfields sites for commercial and
greenspace use, increase employment opportunities for
area residents, and increase public awareness of the
benefits of brownfields redevelopment.

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