I | Brownfields 2004 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
Parkersburg, WV
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 City of Parkersburg was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. Sixteen percent of
Parkersburg's 33,099 residents live in poverty. Located at
the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha Rivers,
Parkersburg was economically dependent upon the oil and
gas booms of the late Nineteenth Century, and much of its
downtown was dominated by oil storage and refining
operations. Many of these industries closed, as did
subsequent chemical, textiles, and glass manufacturers,
leaving contaminated industrial buildings. Many of these
contaminated properties are adjacent to low-income
residential communities. Parkersburg is a federal
Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community (EZ/EC).
Assessment and cleanup of the brownfields properties is
expected to help the town retain jobs critical to its
economy and stimulate recovery through the creation of
new jobs generated by business expansion and relocation.
Assessment Grant
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Parkersburg for a
brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be
used to conduct Phase I and Phase II assessments
of up to eight former service stations contaminated
by underground storage tanks. Each of these large
properties, which range in size from one to five
acres, requires an assessment sufficient to meet
state voluntary remediation plan requirements for
leaking underground storage tanks.
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: City of Parkersburg, WV
City of Parkersburg
(304) 424-8415
City of Parkersburg
(304) 424-8415
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	c
Environmental	anri Fmpflpn™	EPA 560-F-04-169
Protection Agency	Response (5105T)	June 2004
Washington, DC 20450	Kesponse (si us )

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