Brownfields RevitalizationBrownfields Revitalization
The Ohio River Trail Council (ORTC) and our partner the Borough of Monaca, PA along with three of its partner municipalities, Aliquippa, Coraopolis and Midland has submitted an application for a $175,000 EPA Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Program Grant and Assistance to advance our ongoing regional brownfields revitalization. The Borough of Monaca has served as a leader and one of the pioneer communities in the formation of the Ohio River Trail Council, a multi-municipal partnership organization of twenty-six (26) municipalities and two counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania. These communities have joined to undertake a grass-roots effort to re-think the future of our communities as a way to overcome the loss of a major portion of our manufacturing base and the post-industrial brownfields legacy that remains from that loss.
The ORTC is comprised of local municipal elective officials, interested businesses, property owners, and community residents. The ORTC is undergoing other multi-municipal planning efforts with a focus on community revitalization planning, with a specific emphasis on capitalizing on our common interest in reconnecting all of our communities along the Ohio River. The Ohio River Corridor is a critical local and regional resource that calls for protection and enhancement. Our goal is to use the Ohio River Trail as a framework for redevelopment investment. The Council has undertaken several proactive planning and policy efforts, partly through the recommendations of regional and local planning initiatives, to advance expressed community goals, including the desire for increased access to and along the river corridor and the revitalization of the numerous blighted and/or under-utilized parcels or brownfields.
To reach the next level on the Ohio River Corridor Plan, Monaca is seeking a combination of EPA funding, contract assistance, and collaboration to facilitate community involvement in area-wide planning approaches to brownfields assessment, cleanup and subsequent reuse. In addition, the connection of the Ohio River Corridor to other community facilities and investments will be evaluated and the development of a strategy for leveraging public and private resources.
