Mount Rogers Planning District Gets $1.5 Million EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded the Mount Rogers Planning District Commission, based in Marion, Virginia, a $1.5 million assessment coalition grant, Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) announced. The money comes from the EPA Brownfields program and will support brownfield inventories, planning, environmental assessments, community outreach and cleanup activities at a local brownfield site.
The commission serves the counties of Bland, Carroll, Grayson, Smyth, Washington and Wythe and the cities of Bristol and Norton. According to the EPA, assessment coalition grants let one lead entity partner with two to four eligible entities that lack the capacity to manage their own cooperative agreement.
A brownfield is real property whose expansion, redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. Griffith said brownfield redevelopment benefits rural communities in his district economically and environmentally. His office noted that he announced a $1 million EPA Brownfields grant for the City of Martinsville in June 2026.
Why it matters
Site assessments are an early step toward redeveloping contaminated or potentially contaminated properties in Southwest Virginia.
Source: Rep. H. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), October 20, 2026. Read the original release
