Brownfields 2010 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
               Lawrence County, PA
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

The County of Lawrence was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. Located 40 miles north
of Pittsburgh, the county (population 90,272) is a rural
community with a more than 200-year industrial
history, including a number of metals manufacturing
and processing operations. Today, many of the former
large steel mills and manufacturing plants in the county
lie abandoned. They are a blight on the community and
pose safety and health concerns for county residents.
The legacy of contamination from these operations has
contaminated surrounding areas and continues to
impact the county. When these key industries closed,
the county"s economy declined. The unemployment
rate in the county exceeds both the state and national
averages. The county expects to identify and rank
between 120 and 150 brownfield sites. Brownfield
assessments are expected to help the county mitigate
threats to area residents and create a foundation for
leveraging additional funds to support redevelopment.
                   Assessment Grant

                   $200,000 for hazardous substances

                   EPA has selected the County of Lawrence for a
                   brownfields assessment grant. Community-wide
                   hazardous substances grant funds will be used to
                   identify brownfield sites throughout the county and
                   conduct eight to 10 Phase I and one or two Phase II
                   environmental site assessments. Grant funds also
                   will be used to conduct 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 3 Brownfields Team
                   (215)814-3129
                   EPA Region 3 Brownfields Web  site
                   (http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bf-lr)

                   Grant Recipient: County of Lawrence,PA
                   724-656-2175

                   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)
EPA 560-F-10-056
        Apr 10

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