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.