U.S. Environmental Protection Agency leaders visited West Virginia sites that are part of the Brownfields program to build back the United States economy with vital cleanup improvements.

According to an Aug. 24 EPA news release, EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe and Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz toured abandoned locations in northeastern West Virginia, such as Paden City and Morgantown, that are being cleaned up or have been rejuvenated as a result of money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“President Biden has recognized the importance of EPA’s Brownfields program to help build back our country’s economy with major investments in Brownfields cleanup,” McCabe said in the release. "The administration’s fiscal year 2023 budget proposal as well as a historic $254.5 million investment through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to revitalize communities across the country is having a direct impact on revitalizing communities like Paden City."

According to the release, earlier Brownfields funding included a $65,000 Targeted Brownfields Assessment to review and prepare for clean-up for the site and a $36,000 Technical Assistance grant in 2021 for workforce skills and availability assessment preparation. The preparation was planned to create jobs in light manufacturing and office or small business incubator space.

“EPA’s Brownfields Program empowers states, as well as non-profits and other stakeholders to work together in assessing, safely cleaning up and sustainably redeveloping Brownfields sites into productive use," Ortiz said in the release.

The release reported the EPA’s Brownfields program has invested $41 million across 43 communities in West Virginia since 1997. This leverages greater than $1.6 billion from other sources to go toward economic recovery efforts while creating 5,400 new jobs.