Mahoning Valley abandoned sites could benefit from next state budget
Mahoning Valley - The unwelcoming site of brownfields is getting much needed attention from Ohio's capital.
These once thriving parcels of land have been left abandoned and in dire need of cleanup.
In the state's latest budget $500 million is being set aside for brownfield site remediation and revitalization. In the valley, this would include sites like the former Girard Leatherworks property, the former Saint Joe's Hospital, both Sheet and Tube properties and the former Republic Steel plant.
"[Brownfields] contaminate the waterways, the soil, the air and really just affect the overall quality of life," Sara Lown, the Western Reserve Port Authority's (WRPA) public finance director, said.
She says another such site is the former brownfield at the Wean United plant, which is now a recreational hub for the city: the Youngstown Foundation Ampitheatre.
It's uncertain how much will be set aside for the Mahoning Valley, but local agencies already have properties in mind they think could use the funding, like the former Republic Steel site between Warren and Niles.
"It could be a source for multiple uses. That is, a bike trail running along part of it, a park running along the river side of it. It could host multiple industries or one large employer," Lown said.
Girard's Leatherworks property is another brownfield that could benefit from state funding.
"You take that 1,000 acres and you put some commercial, some manufacturing, some park land and you do a blend of developments," she said.
A study conducted by Youngstown State University in 2007 found that homeowners living within a five-mile radius of a brownfield decreased their property value by 20 percent.
"When you're in the city of Youngstown, you're never more than five miles away from a brownfield," Lown added.
According to the WRPA, the Mahoning Valley holds at least 33 current brownfields, which lie along the Mahoning River.
With funding cuts over the last several years, the agency's progress has slowed., but this latest allocation of funding in the state budget looks to reverse that.
"We need it. There's just no other way to clean up these sites," Low said.
