Griffith Announces $1.2 Million EPA Brownfields Grant to LENOWISCO Planning District Commission

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded a Brownfields grant to LENOWISCO Planning District Commission for a total of $1.2 million. This funding supports environmental site assessment activities in Dickenson, Lee, Scott and Wise Counties and the City of Norton.

U.S. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:

"LENOWISCO Planning District Commission believes that the Brownfields Program creates great potential for Southwest Virginia communities.

"This EPA Brownfield Assessment Coalition grant for $1.2 million helps LENOWISCO Planning District Commission continue its goals to redevelop hazardous or polluted sites in deep Southwest Virginia."

BACKGROUND

In May, Congressman Griffith announced that LENOWISCO Planning District Commission received a different $1.2 million Brownfield Assessment grant from the EPA. That funding supported a community-wide assessment of local brownfields.

According to the EPA, Assessment Coalition grants are designed for one "lead" eligible entity to partner with two to four eligible entities that do not have the capacity to apply for and manage their own EPA cooperative agreement and otherwise would not have access to Brownfields grant resources.

Before his July appointment as Health Subcommittee Chairman, Congressman Griffith chaired the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment.

In March of 2025, Congressman Griffith chaired a hearing on the EPA's Brownfields Program. Scott County Native and LENOWISCO Planning District Commission Executive Director Duane Miller testified to the panel and discussed the Program's importance to Southwest Virginia communities.

LENOWISCO Planning District Commission serves the Counties of Lee, Wise and Scott and the City of Norton.

The Brownfields Program empowers states, communities and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up and sustainably reuse brownfields.

A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant.

Brownfield Assessment grants provide funding for brownfield inventories, planning, environmental assessments and community outreach.

Congressman Griffith's e-newsletter on the Program can be found here.

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