Brownfields Reuse in Small and Rural Communities

Silver City, NM

Success Story: The Silver Lining in an Abandoned Hospital: Silver City, New Mexico

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Wayne County, WV

Success Story: Wayne County Economic Development Authority, West Virginia

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Aberdeen, SD

Success Story: Continuing a Legacy of Learning, Aberdeen, South Dakota

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Small and rural communities often face common challenges when trying to find resources to address their brownfield sites, such as:

A constrained local budget, which limits funding available to invest in brownfield assessment, remediation, and redevelopment activities.
Fewer people available to manage brownfield projects and limited access to technical expertise.
Plenty of large parcels and uncontaminated properties nearby, which lowers market demand for brownfields reuse.

Fortunately, many small and rural communities have built the partnerships and capacity they needed to attract investment for brownfields reuse. Check out these two examples.

EPA provides several free brownfields technical assistance resources that can benefit small and rural communities especially, including:

Success rates for small and rural communities who apply for and are awarded an EPA's Brownfield Grant are on par with success rates from applicants with larger populations.

Success Rates Among Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup Grant Applicants

Success rate is defined as the number of applicants who are awarded an EPA's Brownfield Grant divided by the total number of applicants in a given year.

Figure showing the success rates of grant applicants by population

With the recent funding boost available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Brownfields Grant applicants from small and rural communities were selected for awards at nearly the same rate as applicants overall. This is great news for grant applicants from small and rural areas!

Examples of Brownfields Projects in Small and Rural Communities that Received Brownfields Funding

The Silver Lining in an Abandoned Hospital, Silver City, New Mexico

On the left is a photograph of an abandoned building with graffiti with the caption reading "before". On the right is a photograph of a grey multi family residential building and surrounding parking lot, with the caption reading "after".

Wayne County Economic Development Authority, West Virginia

On the left is a photograph of a red brick school building, with the caption "Before. Photo credit: Huntington Herald Dispatch". On the right is a photograph of a large grey and red retail store and parking lot with the caption reading "after". — The Wayne County Economic Development Authority received a $200,000 community-wide assessment grant in 2014 that helped fund a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment in the summer of 2016 for the former Kenova Elementary School, located in Kenova, West Virginia (population 2,978). The assessment found asbestos from multiple building materials. In 2016, the Wayne County Economic Development Authority received a $200,000 cleanup grant, which helped them abate the asbestos to make it ready for its future use. The site has been turned into a new retail store, Harbor Freight, which finished construction in the spring of 2024 and is now open.

**Continuing a Legacy of Learning, Aberdeen, South Dakota**

Bethlehem Lutheran Church has been a fixture in Aberdeen, South Dakota (population 28,210), since its founding in 1884. In 1956, the church built a two-story school on its grounds to accommodate the growing parish. When the parish relocated nearly 40 years later, the old buildings began to slowly deteriorate. In 2011, the City of Aberdeen acquired the property and requested EPA Brownfields assistance in performing an Environmental Site Assessment to determine the environmental conditions of the property so that they could prepare final plans for the redevelopment of the property

Recognizing the need to assess the site for potential contamination, the city applied to the South Dakota Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) for funding to complete an Environmental Site Assessment. The assessment revealed asbestos in building materials and petroleum-contaminated soil. DENR then collaborated with the city to safely cleanup and remove the asbestos and petroleum.

Using Brownfields CERCLA 128(a) funding, the DENR spent approximately $45,000 to conduct the site assessments, develop a cleanup plan and remove the asbestos. The state also provided approximately $7,000 through the DENR Abandoned Tank Program to assess, remove and appropriately dispose of contaminated substances associated with a 6,000-gallon underground petroleum tank.

To fund construction for the new library, the City raised $5.5 million through a sales tax initiative and $2.5 million in private donations. The City was thrilled to open the new K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library on September 18, 2017.

On the left is a photograph of a red brick abandoned church, with the caption “Before”. On the right is a photograph of a newly constructed grey brick library with the caption reading “After”. — The Wayne County Economic Development Authority received a $200,000 community-wide assessment grant in 2014 that helped fund a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment in the summer of 2016 for the former Kenova Elementary School, located in Kenova, West Virginia (population 2,978). The assessment found asbestos from multiple building materials. In 2016, the Wayne County Economic Development Authority received a $200,000 cleanup grant, which helped them abate the asbestos to make it ready for its future use. The site has been turned into a new retail store, Harbor Freight, which finished construction in the spring of 2024 and is now open.

**Continuing a Legacy of Learning, Aberdeen, South Dakota**

Bethlehem Lutheran Church has been a fixture in Aberdeen, South Dakota (population 28,210), since its founding in 1884. In 1956, the church built a two-story school on its grounds to accommodate the growing parish. When the parish relocated nearly 40 years later, the old buildings began to slowly deteriorate. In 2011, the City of Aberdeen acquired the property and requested EPA Brownfields assistance in performing an Environmental Site Assessment to determine the environmental conditions of the property so that they could prepare final plans for the redevelopment of the property

Recognizing the need to assess the site for potential contamination, the city applied to the South Dakota Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) for funding to complete an Environmental Site Assessment. The assessment revealed asbestos in building materials and petroleum-contaminated soil. DENR then collaborated with the city to safely cleanup and remove the asbestos and petroleum.

Using Brownfields CERCLA 128(a) funding, the DENR spent approximately $45,000 to conduct the site assessments, develop a cleanup plan and remove the asbestos. The state also provided approximately $7,000 through the DENR Abandoned Tank Program to assess, remove and appropriately dispose of contaminated substances associated with a 6,000-gallon underground petroleum tank.

To fund construction for the new library, the City raised $5.5 million through a sales tax initiative and $2.5 million in private donations. The City was thrilled to open the new K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library on September 18, 2017.