Five local sites may see environmental remediation

February 7th, 2022

By Dani Kington, Messenger Assistant Editor

Five Athens County properties long contaminated with environmental hazards may finally move toward a much needed clean-up.

“One of the biggest impediments redeveloping blighted sites is often environmental contamination,” said Athens County Land Bank Chair and Athens County Treasurer Ric Wasserman. “The sites we’re talking about have become very dilapidated. No one is going to buy that property and spend a bunch of money rehabbing it if they have an environmental situation they might be liable for.”

That’s why the land bank and the Athens County Port Authority stepped in.

According to a joint press release, the two groups submitted an application for nearly $1 million in state grant funding for assessment and remediation of five “brownfield” sites.