&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-98-143
May 1998
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Wheeling, WV
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
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, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. Since 1995, EPA has funded more than 150 Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of
brownfields solutions. The Pilots 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 Wheeling for a
Brownfields Pilot. Due to the loss of heavy
manufacturing jobs, Wheeling's population has
declined from a high of 61,659 in 1930 to 35,000
today. Because the city is surrounded by mountainous
areas, suitable development properties are limited to
the waterfront area, which has a history of industrial
activity. New industrial development will therefore
require recycling brownfields. No comprehensive
information is available, however, regarding the
environmental conditions atmany of these abandoned
industrial sites. The community has difficulty
attracting new industry to these sites because of
uncertainty about potential environmental liability.
The Pilot will seek to build on some early Wheeling
brownfields successes. The city will try to take
advantage of modern transportation networks, a
skilled workforce, and a demonstrated spirit of
volunteerism as it builds its brownfields
redevelopment program. To begin, the Pilot will
refine an existing inventory of potential brownfields
sites in the area and establish site cleanup priorities.
The Pilot also will target four primary sites for
extensive assessment and potential cleanup and
redevelopment, including the former Roger's Hotel
site, the former Wheeling Closure site, and two other
sites. These properties are located in aneighborhood
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Wheeling, West Virginia
Date of Announcement:
May 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will
develop case studies of
landowner/cooperator
redevelopment efforts on
four sites, and target four
other sites for site
characterization and cleanup
planning and design.
Contacts:
Department of Economic
and Community
Development
City of Wheeling
(304) 234-3701
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 3
(215)566-3129
Visit the EPA Region 3 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/brownfld/hmpage1.htm
For further information, including specific 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/
-------
strategic planning area where other cleanup and
economic redevelopment activity is ongoing. When
more comprehensive information is known about
these sites and contamination is cleaned up, the city
will be able to attract new industries and invigorate
the local economy.
OBJECTIVES
The Pilot focuses on two specific objectives. First,
the Pilot intends to assess the environmental history
and potential for cooperative cleanup and
redevelopment of the four targeted sites. Second, the
Pilot intends to use these sites as case studies of a
process for encouraging cooperative brownfields
cleanup and redevelopment efforts. The city will
ensure that these sites work through the state's
voluntary cleanup program. In addition, the city has
other potential federal funding available and
commitments from local banks and developers for
cleanup and redevelopment.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting a formal investigation of all potential
brownfields sites in Wheeling to refine an existing
inventory of priority sites;
• Conducting Phase I site assessments of the top nine
priority sites;
• Conducting Phase II site assessments and developing
cleanup plans for the four primary sites; and
• Operating a brownfields cleanup education and
resource centerto facilitate community involvement
at four targeted brownfields sites.
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 Wheeling, West Virginia
May 1998 EPA500-F-98-143
------- |