City of Nitro USEPA Petroleum and Hazardous Assessment Grants Project
KEMRON Environmental Services, Inc. (KEMRON) assisted the City of Nitro, West Virginia with a $200,000 EPA Petroleum Brownfields Assessment Grant and $200,000 EPA Hazardous Brownfields Assessment Grant projects in and around the City of Nitro, West Virginia. These Brownfields Assessment Grant projects involved inventory and prioritization of hazardous and petroleum sites in and around the City of Nitro. The site inventory and prioritization processes have been completed and 54 hazardous sites and 54 petroleum sites were identified in and around the City of Nitro.
We have eliminated all ineligible petroleum and hazardous sites identified through the site inventory process due to various factors including CERCLIS listing, NPL Listing, Outside Survey Area, Can Not Locate/Not Valid Site Location, and Priority 1 WVDEP Petroleum Site (High Priority). Property Approval Questionnaires have been submitted to EPA Region III for one potentially eligible petroleum site and three (potentially eligible hazardous sites.
Following receipt of executed Access Agreements, a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) will be conducted on each site. Where warranted, Phase II ESAs will be conducted based upon the Phase I ESA findings and redevelopment potential. Depending upon the remaining project budgets, the Remedial Planning component of process will include preparation of Remedial Action Workplans and VRP Applications, where warranted.
SGA is conducting redevelopment planning activities for the City of Nitro Petroleum and Hazardous Brownfields Assessment Grant projects. The public involvement and redevelopment planning process for this project is well underway. A primary focus of the public involvement activities to-date includes a day long public workshop. The outcome of this highly participatory meeting was the identification of key redevelopment goals and objectives, a schematic redevelopment strategy for the entire Brownfields study area and a list of prioritized sites and infrastructure elements to focus ongoing planning and environmental investigation efforts. Current work is focused upon identifying site-specific design criteria to ensure that as individual site development projects are advanced, they are developed in a functional and cohesive manner consistent with the overall redevelopment master plan.
This project includes evaluating site specific engineering characteristics unique to this major riverfront post-industrial Brownfields site with significant underground contamination. The work also includes preparing tailored site development standards for engineering elements such as stormwater management and post- remediation earthwork treatments. In addition, targeted public infrastructure and community directed land use plans are being studied in greater detail to best position the City for funding to support final design, approval and construction efforts, since these investments are critical to attract and leverage private development investments.