CCEDC gets grant for work at former glass plant site

The Clarion County Economic Development Corp. has received nearly $100,000 in state grant money to conduct an environmental assessment at the site of a former glass plant in Clarion Township.

The state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) awarded the development corporation a total of $96,006 through its Industrial Sites Reuse Program.

“Funding from the (reuse program) allows boroughs and cities to perform needed environmental assessments to identify and address any potentially harmful chemicals,” said Neil Weaver, acting secretary at the DCED.

The reuse program funds will be used to complete a Phase II and III environmental assessment at the 28-acre site along Grand Avenue that once housed part of the Owens-Illinois glass plant.

The property was purchased in 2016 by Miles Brothers LLC, with plans to construct an industrial park.

The assessment will include soil borings/monitoring well installation, groundwater and quarterly groundwater sampling and preparation of reports.

The Clarion County EDC applied for the funding on behalf of Miles Brothers.

The reuse program provides loans and grants for environmental assessments and remediation carried out by eligible applicants who did not cause or contribute to the contamination.

The program is designed to foster the cleanup of environmental contamination at industrial sites, thereby bringing blighted land into productive reuse.

The Derrick.com