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EPA Gives Neville Township 200K to Redevelop Brownfields

Release Date: 6/21/1999
Contact Information: Neville Township 412-264-3442 & Regional Brownfields Team 215- 814-3129

PHILADELPHIA -- Neville Township is one of 57 recipients nationwide, each to receive a $200,000 grant today from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up and redevelop brownfields -- abandoned industrial properties where redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived contamination.

"Brownfields grants empower those groups interested in economic redevelopment to bring life and economic vitality back to a community. The long-term benefits will include new jobs, an increased tax base, and a better partnership between public and private sectors. Reuse of brownfields also preserves open space, or greenfields," said EPA Regional Administrator W. Michael McCabe.

Neville Township, actually an island on the Ohio River in southwestern Pennsylvania, was chosen as a recipient because about one-third of the island -- 400 acres -- is comprised of brownfields. These sites are the result of a decline in the township’s historical production of military vehicles and steel, scrap recycling, shipping and distribution.

The island is 5 miles long and four-tenths of a mile wide. About 9.1 percent of its 1,273 residents live in poverty. Although there are more than 150 businesses on the island, with the eastern end containing heavy industry, the township’s tax base has declined 40 percent in recent years and it continues to decline. While the island’s location, flat topography, riverfront access and sound infrastructure make it ideal for industrial and commercial redevelopment, issues regarding real or perceived contamination have hindered redevelopment to more productive uses. The borough’s east side is heavily industrialized and there is a small residential area in the west.

Neville Township’s primary objectives are to improve health and safety and spur economic activity by completing environmental assessments on several brownfields sites. Cleanup and redevelopment of these sites are part of the town’s comprehensive redevelopment plan. There will also be a rezoning project to transition from heavy industry on the eastern end to light industrial with a combination of retail, residential and recreational uses on the island’s western end.

The grant money will be used for:

* Completing an inventory of the island’s brownfields

* Performing environmental assessments on approximately five sites

* Conducting environmental assessments on three to four brownfields

* Designing cleanup plans for assessed sites

* Educating and involving the community in the assessment, cleanup and redevelopment activities.

Congress has recognized the relationship between protecting greenfields and redeveloping brownfields. Legislation will soon be introduced to offer "Better America Bonds," making it easier for state and local governments to offset the cost of purchasing open land in order to preserve it. They could issue nearly $10 billion in bonds, pay no interest and take up to 15 years to pay back the principal. Investors who buy the bonds receive tax credits from the federal government equal to the amount of interest.

"Sometimes, the best way for a community to ensure that it retains a certain amount of open space is to purchase that space, outright. Better America bonds will help make that possible for communities on tight budgets," said McCabe.

The EPA also awarded brownfields grants to several other local communities today, including Delaware County, Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties and Montgomery County. Call the above contact for more information on these and other brownfields grants.