Brownfields Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Revitalization Of Communities Is EPA’s Focus In State, Ortiz Says

Adam Ortiz, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator for Region 3, says the EPA has invested half a billion dollars in West Virginia during the Biden presidency.

State and local environmental advocates welcomed a special guest to the Capitol Tuesday for E-Day.

Adam Ortiz, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator for Region 3, which includes West Virginia, came to the Capitol to speak to lawmakers and advocacy groups.

Ortiz says the EPA has invested half a billion dollars in West Virginia during the Biden presidency. That money has gone to improving water and wastewater systems and cleaning up abandoned coal mines and industrial sites.

“It’s not just cleaning up the stuff in the past but preparing this infrastructure for the future. So, it’s hard to attract a hotel to a community if you don’t have strong water systems, both drinking water and wastewater. So, we’re partnering with localities partnering with the state because we want to help West Virginia open its next chapter revitalization and you know, cleaning up the old stuff as part of that process.”

Ortiz says West Virginia has the infrastructure and the workforce to support its economic future. He says the EPA’s role is to help the state clean up the legacy pollution of its historical mining and industry.

“So our focus at EPA working with the state is on revitalization, taking a lot of these abandoned mine areas, as well as brownfields. And it wasn’t just coal production here, but also lots of chemicals and companies that are long gone. And often these sites, these properties are right in the middle of, you know, great old towns and cities, they’re connected to the water, they’re connected to the rail. So our job is to help the state clean them up and get them back online economically.”

Ortiz also praised the young people who came to the Capitol to speak out on environmental issues and share their ideas with lawmakers.

“So we’re really cheering on the young people, the universities and the schools for their environmental programs, because they’re going to have the baton before too long.”

Report Lays Out Game Plan for Post-Coal Communities

Communities tasked with finding a second life for land that once housed coal-fired power plants should engage early and often and think holistically about the economic and environmental challenges and opportunities, according to a new tool.

The Chicago-based Delta Institute, which works with transitioning coal communities, released a roadmap this week aimed at helping local governments redevelop sites where coal plants once stood.

The document lays out five steps for communities to take when considering how to reuse land once home to a coal-fired power plant.

Federal data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows more than 530 coal plants have closed since 2008. This year, U.S. power companies are on track to close four percent of the country’s coal fleet.

Emily Rhodes, communities specialist with the Delta Institute, said one of the goals of the roadmap is to meet communities facing coal plant retirements where they are in that process.

“We talk a lot about the benefits of early planning when possible, and so we’re hoping the roadmap can provide that guidance on where to start that planning process, what questions to ask, what resources might be available,” she said.

Rhodes said in many cases sites where coal-fired power plants operated have chemical and other environmental contamination, which is something local communities will need to factor in when creating redevelopment plans. Remediating pollution may require leveraging local, state or federal grant programs.

The document notes community engagement can start early, before a plant has shut down, but adds the process to full redevelopment is often not a short one and can take decades.

EPA Announces $2.8 Million in Grants to Revitalize Polluted Sites in W.Va.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has awarded West Virginia nearly $3 million for assessment, remediation and planning work on contaminated properties across the state.

The EPA’s Brownfields Program is aimed at helping communities expand their ability to recycle polluted properties for new, productive reuses.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said in a news release that “these grants leverage other public and private investments and improve local economies through property cleanup and redevelopment.”

$200,000 was awarded to Southern Coal Camp Authority for cleanup of former Burch High and Middle Schools.

Additionally, $200,000 was also given to the City of Fairmont and Fayette County for a Community-Wide Assessment.

The Region 2 Planning & Development Council based in Huntington was awarded $600,000 for its Coalition Assessment.

And both the cities of Weirton and Huntington were given $800,000 for a Community-Wide Revolving Loan Fund.

Federal Grant Will Fund Brownfield Cleanup in Flood Communities

Flood-affected communities in southern West Virginia are receiving federal aid to help clean up brownfield sites for future development.

A brownfield is a site environmental officials have deemed hazardous for residential and other construction because it previously housed some kind of commercial or industrial development that could have resulted in contamination.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection announced Wednesday it received a $300,000 grant to clean up these types of sites in Rupert and Rainelle in Greenbrier County that were affected by the June 2016 floods.

According to a press release, the DEP plans to use the money to clean up sites that could potentially house businesses, schools and homes as the communities work toward long-term revitalization.

The $300,000 grant was part of a larger $1.6 million federal Environmental Protection Agency award to West Virginia. Other brownfield sites that will be mitigated with the award include areas of Wood, Upshur, Brooke and Hancock counties.

The June 2016 flood killed 23 people in the state and resulted in a federal disaster declaration in about a dozen counties.

Huntington Continues Project Redeveloping Brownfield Sites

A neighborhood redevelopment project in Huntington is moving forward.

Residents were invited to a public meeting Tuesday night at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena to kick off a planning and redevelopment project for former industrial properties in the Highlawn neighborbood, along with other sites in the city. The city of Huntington says in a news release that the goal is to have a strategy for the project completed by mid-2017.

Last year the city received $600,000 in grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for planning and assessing brownfields sites.

Brownfields properties are sites that can be redeveloped but have potential environmental issues. They include former industrial sites, abandoned buildings and vacant properties.