Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center

FOCUS WV Brownfields

FOCUS West Virginia Brownfields Mini Grants provide funding of up to $5,000 plus site redevelopment support to spur the completion of community-based brownfields projects in northern West Virginia.

FOCUS WV Brownfields mini-grant flyer [.pdf 181kb]

FOCUS WV Brownfields Mini-Grant Program Guide and Application Instructions [.pdf 65kb]

APPLICATION FOR FOCUS WV Brownfields Mini-Grant Program [.pdf 44kb]

Press Release

Local Leaders Visualize Future Of Weirton - WTOV Channel 9
Grant aids work at Brownfield - The Dominion Post
WRI, NRCCE's Brownfields program helps WV communities win $1 million in Recovery Act funding [.doc 31kb]
Two counties receive $400,000 in brownfields assistance grants. [.doc 25kb]

Background

In 2005, the WV State Legislature recognized the lost economic and social value in abandoned contaminated lands or "brownfields." The Legislature created the Northern and Southern Brownfields Assistance Centers to work with WVDEP to support community efforts to turn these brownfields into productive land again.

The Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center, housed at West Virginia University’s Water Research Institute, empowers communities to plan and implement brownfields redevelopment projects in the state’s northern 33 counties by conducting general citizen and local government education efforts and by providing assistance to specific local communities interested the reuse of brownfields in their communities. Support can be provided to help groups solicit grants and low-interest loans for site assessments, clean-ups, and environmental job training as well as provide support for preliminary legal and planning work. The Center prioritizes requests from communities that are already working on community-wide development planning and may be interested in integrating brownfields redevelopment into those plans.

A brownfield is a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the actual or perceived presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. www.epa.gov/brownfields

Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, utilizes existing infrastructure, takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, improves adjacent property values, and both improves and protects the environment.

Contacts

Management

Tamara F. Vandivort, Program Administrator
(304) 293-2867 x 5448
Tamara.Vandivort@mail.wvu.edu

Patrick Kirby, Director
Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center
(304) 293-2867 x 5459
Patrick.Kirby@mail.wvu.edu

Sera Janson, Project Manager
FOCUS WV Brownfields Program
Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center
(304) 293-2867 x 5447
Sera.Janson@mail.wvu.edu

Mailing Address
Northern WV Brownfields Assistance Center
Water Research Institute, NRCCE
150 Evansdale Drive, Room 202
PO Box 6064
Morgantown, WV 26506
Phone (304) 293-2867 x5459
Fax (304) 293-7822

Staff

Deborah Morris, Accountant
(304) 293-2867 x 5444
Debbie.Morris@mail.wvu.edu

Terry Polce, Administrative Assistant
(304) 293-2867 x 5450
Terry.Polce@mail.wvu.edu

Project Listing

Project No. BF-02
Project Title: Environmental Jobs for WV
Sponsoring Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Amount: $161,000
Period of Project: March 2006 – March 2008
EPA Factsheet: www.epa.gov/brownfields/jt1205/west_va.pdf
Project No. BF-09
Project Title: Sustainable Energy Parks on Mine-Scarred Lands in Appalachia [.pdf 44kb]
Recipient: West Virginia University
Principle Investigator: Paul Ziemkiewicz
Sponsoring Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Amount: $600,000
Period of Project: October 1, 2008 - September 30, 2012