Brownfields 2003  Cleanup Grant Fact Sheet
              Earth Conservancy,  City of Nanticoke and Hanover Township,
              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. 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. Additionally, funding
support is provided to state and tribal response
programs through a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The Earth Conservancy was selected to receive a
cleanup grant. The targeted site previously was mined
for anthracite coal and was left environmentally
degraded when the Blue Coal Corporation abandoned
the mines after declaring bankruptcy in the mid 1970s.
The Concrete City site borders the City of Nanticoke
and Luzerne County Community College in the greater
Hanover Township area, where more than 37% of the
population earns less than $25,000 annually. Once the
site is cleaned up, Earth Conservancy plans to develop
it for community recreational use, including a
recreational facility with playing  fields and other
amenities. The project is expected to enrich the quality
of life and aesthetics of an area that has suffered for
decades from the environmental,  physical, and
psychological impacts of living near an industrial
wasteland. By eliminating a significant source of acid
mine drainage runoff, reclamation of the site will
improve the environmental health of the Nanticoke
Creek Watershed, which empties into the Susquehanna
River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.
                   Cleanup Grant

                   $200,000 for hazardous substances

                   EPA has selected the Earth Conservancy for a
                   cleanup grant. The cleanup grant will target Concrete
                   City, a 25-acre, mine-scarred site near an existing
                   suburban neighborhood in the City of Nanticoke and
                   Hanover Township, in Luzerne County, PA.

                   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: Earth Conservancy,PA
                   (570)823-3445

                   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)
EPA500-F-03-106
        Jun 03

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