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Brownfields 2006 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
Redevelopment Authority of the County of Washington, 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 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 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 municipalities 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.
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
(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: Redevelopment Authority of the
County of Washington
(724) 228-6875
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-06-058
May 2006

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