Brownfields 2009 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
Jefferson County, OH
EPA Brownfields Program
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states.
communities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield 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. In
2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help
states and communities around the country cleanup and
revitalize brownfields sites. Under this 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 programs through
a separate mechanism.
Community Description
Jefferson County was selected to receive a brownfields
assessment coalition grant. The county's assessment
coalition partners are the Cities of Steubenville and
Toronto and the Village of Mingo Junction (combined
population 73,894). Jefferson County is in eastern Ohio
along the Ohio River, in the heart of the coal-rich
Appalachian Region. During the early and mid-20th
century, the area's economy was based on agriculture
and coal mining in the western half of the county, and
coal-fired industries, such as steel mills, in the eastern
half of the county along the Ohio River. Since their
peak in the 1970s, the industries in the eastern half of
the county have closed or downsized, and mining has
all but ended. Drainage from mine-scarred lands and
the abandoned and underused factories along the Ohio
River threatens human health and the environment.
Unemployment and poverty rates are significantly
higher than national averages. Assessment of
brownfields is expected to help the county achieve its
Community Investment Plan goals of improving the
health of residents, stimulating the economy, and
redeveloping vacant and underused land.
Assessment Grant
$709,000 for hazardous substances
$291,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected Jefferson County for a brownfields
assessment coalition grant. Community-wide
hazardous substances grant funds will be used to
inventory brownfields and conduct 12 to 20 Phase I
and 6 to 10 Phase II environmental site assessments.
Community-wide petroleum grant funds will be used
to inventory brownfields and conduct 13 to 17 Phase
I and 6 to 8 Phase II environmental site assessments.
Grant funds also will be used to conduct cleanup
planning and support community outreach activities.
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
(http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Team
(312)886-7576
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields)
Grant Recipient: Jefferson County, Ohio
(740) 283-8568
The information presented in this fact sheet comes
from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
accuracy of this information. The cooperative
agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated.
Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are
subject to change.
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA560-F-09-162
May 09
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