Clean-Up Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that West Virginia communities will receive nearly $3 million of Brownfields funding through its Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup (MAC) Grants.

Brownfields is a blanket term for contaminated and abandoned industrial and commercial properties. This funding will support underserved and economically disadvantaged communities across the country in assessing and cleaning up contaminated and abandoned industrial and commercial properties.

For West Virginia, 85 percent of the recipients receiving awards are first -time grantees, all targeted cities being considered have populations less than 50,000, and most meet the micro-community threshold of less than 10,000.

The EPA’s Brownfields Program has provided nearly $1.76 billion in grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return them to productive reuse.

The funding announced today will bring the total level of Brownfields grant funding in West Virginia communities to over $37 million since 1997. A total of 99 grants have been awarded to 43 communities, which has resulted in 1,285 acres representing 79 properties being readied for reuse.

According to grant program statistics, West Virginia communities have assessed close to 325 sites and cleaned up 22 sites.

The 2021 MAC grant recipients in West Virginia are:

Belomar Regional Council, Upper Ohio River Valley, WV and OH Assessment Grant $600,000

The EPA has selected Belomar Regional Council for a Brownfields Assessment Coalition Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to develop a prioritized site inventory and conduct 15 Phase I and 11 Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to develop two clean-up plans and two reuse plans, and support community outreach activities. Assessment activities will focus on municipalities in the Upper Ohio River Valley in both West Virginia and Ohio. Priority sites include the Great Stone Viaduct, which is a former railroad property in Bellaire, Ohio; the Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Building, which is a 12-story vacant office building in the central business district of Wheeling, West Virginia; the Fostoria Glass Site, which is a former glass company in Moundsville, West Virginia; and the vacant Ohio Valley Medical Center campus and the Grow Ohio Valley Food Enterprise Center in Wheeling.

Bluefield West Virginia Economic Development Authority, Bluefield, WV Cleanup Grant $452,292

The EPA has selected the Bluefield West Virginia Economic Development Authority for a Brownfields Clean-up Grant. Grant funds will be used to clean the 300-400 Block of Federal Street. The site is a contiguous city block of parcels in downtown Bluefield that once housed various commercial businesses, including a Montgomery Ward Department Store, an Armed Forces Recruiting Center, Deaton’s Music World, a J.C. Penney Department Store, the former Bluefield Bus Depot, and the former Bluefield Fire Department. All sites are currently vacant and contaminated with inorganic contaminants. Grant funds also will be used to support clean-up planning and community outreach activities.

Boone County Community Development Corporation, Madison, WV

Cleanup Grant $181,794

The EPA has selected the Boone County Community Development Corp. for a Brownfields Clean-up Grant. Grant funds will be used to clean up the former Lyon Oil Property located at 10 Ave. C in the City of Madison. The clean-up site was formerly used as an ice storage facility and as a bulk petroleum storage facility, and more recently as a used oil collection, storage and recycling facility. It is contaminated with various petroleum-based products, including gasoline, diesel fuel, and used oil. Grant funds also will be used to develop a reuse plan for the property.

Kanawha County Commission, Montgomery, Marmet, Belle, Charleston, South Charleston, and St. Albans, WV Assessment Grant $600,000

The EPA has selected Kanawha County Commission for a Brownfields Assessment Coalition Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct 18 Phase I and eight Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to develop clean-up and reuse plans for 12 sites and conduct community outreach activities. Assessment activities will focus on the cities of Montgomery, Marmet, Belle, Charleston, South Charleston, and St. Albans. Priority brownfield sites include the former Union Carbide above-ground tank farm, the former Bartlett Burdette Cox Funeral Home, the historic Union Building, a former K-Mart property, the former Montgomery City pool, which includes a fueling location for boat traffic, and the Clendenin Rail Trail Trailhead, which is located on an abandoned railroad right of way. Coalition partners are the City of Charleston, the City of South Charleston, and the Charleston Area Alliance.

Paden City Development Authority, Paden City, WV Cleanup Grant $500,000

The EPA has selected the Paden City Development Authority for a Brownfields Clean-up Grant. Grant funds will be used to clean up the Paden City Industrial Park located at 330 South First Ave. in Paden City. For over 75 years, the 8.6-acre clean-up site was used by the Paden City Pottery and Corning Glass Works companies to manufacture dinnerware. The process of making pottery from clay and applying the glaze led to the site being contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals. Grant funds also will be used to support community outreach activities.

Region 4 Planning and Development Council, Sam Black Church, Rainelle, and Ronceverte, WV Assessment Grant $300,000

The EPA has selected the Region 4 Planning and Development Council for a Brownfields Assessment Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to develop 10 Phase I and six Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used for clean-up planning and community involvement activities, including 12 public meetings. Priority sites include the former Black Diamond Mining coal loading facility in Sam Black Church, the former Drennen/Grant retail properties and former East Rainelle Grade School in Rainelle, and the former Mullican Lumber Sawmill in Ronceverte, which is located within a federally designated floodplain.

Wheeling, WV Cleanup Grant $359,953

The EPA has selected the City of Wheeling for a Brownfields Clean-up Grant. Grant funds will be used to clean the 3-acre Robrecht Riverfront property at 1905 Main St. in the City of Wheeling. The clean-up site is a former railroad right-of-way dating back to the mid-1800s. Since the 1970s, when railroad operations ceased, the site has been used by trespassers for uncontrolled parking, waterway access, squatting, and illegal activities. It is contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PCBs and heavy metals.

The EPA anticipates that it will award the grants once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied by the selected recipients.

For as long as he can recall, Williamson resident John Burchett said that when you looked over the U.S. Highway 119 Bridge leading to Kentucky, all you’d see on the Tug Fork River were tires.

“For tire businesses, individuals, the river was easiest way to get rid of things,” said Burchett, also a local part-time firefighter. “And unfortunately, that’s what people did, and we’re paying the price now.”

While a growing number of communities along the river are increasingly touting the waterway as a draw for outdoor recreation, there’s still a lot of work to be done to make sure it’s clean and safe.

Last week, Burchett was one of several local volunteers behind the Williamson PK-8 school, where there’s an access point to the river, half a mile down from the bridge.

With help from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and its Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan (REAP), the volunteers removed more than 1,600 tires from a couple 100 yards of river over three days.

Volunteers and state workers joined forces to remove more than 1,000 tires from a few hundred yards of the Tug Fork River in Williamson on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019.

According to REAP staff, the state has helped other river communities with tire clean-up projects, including those along the Coal and Elk rivers. The tires they remove go to the West Virginia Tire Disposal waste monofill in Summersville, a landfill exclusively for old tires.

The organization’s website states it will hold on to the tires they can be recycled.

“You know, if we’re going to be serious about tourism, growing that industry and helping our environment, this is what you have to do,” said Williamson Mayor Charles Hatfield. He was one of about eight volunteers present Monday morning, in addition to DEP employees and contracted workers, paid for by the DEP.

Other participants included Glen Allen Daugherty of Woodman, Kentucky, another Tug Fork River town about 30 miles downstream from Williamson.

Last Summer, Glen Daugherty kayaked nearly the entire length of the Tug Fork River in eight days with his son. Their journey, shared via pictures on a Facebook group for the river, garnered attention for the waterway’s recreational opportunities.

Last summer, Daugherty — who says his friends call him Grizzly Allen — and his son kayaked nearly the entire length of the Tug Fork River, from Welch, McDowell County to Louisa in Kentucky.

“We had to pull the kayak, and we had about 150 pounds of gear, a little tent one-man tent and a one-man sleeping shelter,” Daugherty recalled. “And we went to survive, on our own, catching fish, eating ramen, camp.”

All the while, Daugherty was posting pictures of their journey to the Friends of the Tug Fork River Facebook group, which attracted attention to their trip. He said people began joining them, bought them food and let them sleep in local schools.

“It’s such a beautiful river, and there’s so much good fishing and stuff on it, and we don’t have to drive very far to enjoy it,” Daugherty said.

Daugherty said he’s showed up to help pick up tires in Williamson, to show support for the river and its future as a recreational waterway.

“I just wish we would have more people that would get involved in these events,” Daugherty said. “And I would like to see it spread from town to town and in between, because what’s here in six months will be down there.”

Creating A ‘Wide Open’ And ‘Unimpeded’ River

Mayor Hatfield said the town is also looking forward to building a spillway around a low head dam upstream from town that is used for the city’s water intake.

Williamson Mayor Charles Hatfield helped remove tires from the Tug Fork River on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019.

That will allow the more than 150-mile river to flow unimpeded, an important factor for growing river-based recreation. The spillway could also alleviate dangerous conditions that can occur near the dam.

According to Hatfield, the dam’s only about five feet tall, but as water flows over it, it can reach about 10 feet on the other side, creating conditions that can be fatal.

“If you go over the dam and get caught … it will not let you escape,” said Burchett, the part-time firefighter. “It rolls you, until you’re just out of breath.”

With a grant from the National Coal Heritage Area Authority, Williamson has created a construction plan for the spillway.

The city is also applying for construction funds from the DEP’s program for Economic Development of Abandoned Mine Lands.

“If we can get the construction money from that grant, to do this, then this river, all 159 miles of it, will be wide open, unimpeded for recreational navigation,” Burchett said.

Volunteers are scheduled to go out for a final day for tire removals on Wednesday, Oct. 2. Burchett said volunteers will gather behind the Williamson PK-8 school around 9 a.m.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

Tag: Clean-Up

W.Va. Communities Receive Nearly $3 Million in Brownfields Assessment and Clean-up Funding From EPA

Volunteers, West Virginia DEP Remove More Than 1,000 Tires From Tug Fork River In Williamson