BDC Awarded Site Study Money

BEECH BOTTOM – The Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle has been awarded $225,000 in federal funds for an environmental assessment of the Wheeling Corrugating property.

BDC Executive Director Pat Ford said the grant will allow Phase 1 and Phase 2 assessments to be done of the 650-acre site.

Phase 1 assessments involve a preliminary physical study of a site and research into written record of its past use. Phase 2 assessments involve the collection and analysis of soil samples.

The work will be done by Techlaw Inc., a Wheeling consulting firm with a state contract for such assessments. Ford said the funds are being issued through the state Department of Environmental Protection from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Targeted Brownfields Assessments program.

Brownfields are unused properties where environmental contamination or the possibility of it hinder their future development.

The Targeted Brownfields Assessment program differs from other brownfield funding programs in that the funds require no local match. Sites are selected for various criteria, including ownership by a public or quasi-public entity and their potential for further development.

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