OA Brownfields 2001 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
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/ Ranson and Charles Town, WV
EPA Brownfields Initiative
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.
Background
EPA has selected the City of Ranson, in partnership with
Charles Town, for a Brownfields Assessment Pilot. The
city also was selected to receive additional funding for
assessments at brownfields properties to be used for
greenspace purposes. Located in northeastern West
Virginia about 10 miles west of Harpers Ferry, the two
adjacent cities are the largest municipalities in rural
Jefferson County, West Virginia. The transportation
corridor, immediately adjacent to the central business
districts of both cities (population 6,012), is the targeted
Pilot area. The area is characterized by old properties
posing environmental concerns. Fifteen percent of
residents in the two municipalities live below the poverty
level. Most of these residents live within one mile of the
Pilot area in mixed ethnic neighborhoods.
Charles Town and Ranson are industrial towns.
Historically, they have depended on a wide variety of
industries, such as tanneries, metal works, lumber mills,
machine shops, railroads, and mining and manufacturing
operations. Many properties are saddled with
environmental issues, which have deterred investment in
the area and reduced the tax base. Perceptions of
environmental contamination or liability associated with
several properties in the corridor have discouraged land
transactions and growth for many years.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 04/01/2001
Amount: $200,000
$50,000 for Greenspace
Profile: The Pilot will target sites in the
transportation corridor running through both cities,
which historically have been the center of
manufacturing and commercial operations.
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 Ranson,WV
(304) 725-1010
Objectives
The long-term objective is to redevelop the
transportation corridor into a commerce corridor that
will support walking trails, a recreational area for the
Boys and Girls Club of Jefferson County, professional
office space, a business/technology park, and light
industry. As part of this objective, the Pilot will foster
land transactions and development through site
assessments, reuse planning, and community
involvement.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
•	Inventorying and prioritizing potential
brownfields sites in the transportation corridor;
•	Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental
site assessments and remediation planning on
selected properties; and
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-01-291
Apr 01

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• Involving the community through periodic
informational meetings, open-house
presentations, and participation in an existing
Joint Coordinating Committee.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet
been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this
fact sheet are subject to change.
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
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
Solid Waste
EPA 500-F-01-291
Apr 01

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