EPA recently announced that three Kentucky communities have been selected to receive over $1.4 million in grant funding to assess brownfield properties. This year’s award recipients include the Cumberland Valley Area Development District with a $500,000 Community-wide Assessment Grant. Grant funds will be used to inventory sites and conduct up to 10 Phase I and up to nine Phase II environmental site assessments. Funding will also be used to develop nine cleanup plans and three resource roadmaps, and to support community outreach activities. The target areas for this grant are the Cities of Cumberland, Benham, and Lynch, all of which have been severely impacted by the closure of coal mines in the area. Priority sites include a former power company, an unused section of rail line, an unused 8,500-square-foot building that once housed a medical clinic, a 61-year-old former gas station, and a 25,000-square-foot building that was formerly a high school. As it is a community-wide grant, CVADD will also be working with officials in all 8 counties and 17 municipalities in its district to list and evaluate other potential sites for Phase I and Phase II assessments. If you have questions, please contact Susanna Cornett, Economic Development Specialist, at 606-864-7391 or scornett@cvadd.org