WARREN — Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership is seeking funding through the U.S. EPA Brownfield Cleanup Grant for five abandoned gas stations owned by the Trumbull County Land Bank.

The locations are a vacant lot at 2855 Tod Ave. SW, Warren, a former McQuaid’s at 3624 Main St., Mineral Ridge, 165 E. Main St., West Farmington, a former USA Gas Mart at 2904 Belmont Ave., Liberty and a vacant lot at 1426 Niles Road SE, Warren.

“TNP is committed to address the environmental hazard and community blight caused by these abandoned properties, and seeks to return them to productive use,” a news release from TNP states.

There will be two community outreach meetings to share information about the project and gather feedback. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the draft grant application as well as the draft analyses of cleanup alternatives (ABCAs).

These draft documents are available for public review online at trumbullcountylandbank.org or by emailing gillian@tnpwarren.org.

The meetings will be at noon Jan. 7 in the Harding Meeting Room at the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library, 444 Mahoning Ave. NW, and at 6 p.m. Jan. 7 in the library’s Grant Meeting Room.

The meetings are expected to last no more than an hour.

Public participation in the meetings is requested, and public comments and suggestions are welcome. These comments may be sent to gillian@tnpwarren.org, called in at 330-647-6301 ext. 106, or delivered in person at either of the public meetings. The documents can also be viewed in person at Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership’s office at 736 Mahoning Ave. NW, Warren.

“Remediation of these contaminated properties will allow them to be returned to productive use while also eliminating the environmental hazard to the surrounding communities. TNP and the Land Bank greatly value the input from the community members in all of the various areas affected by these former gas station properties,” said Gillian Costantino, Environmental Programs Coordinator at TNP.

For more information about TNP’s brownfield program or to learn how residents can get involved in local revitalization efforts, visit www.tnpwarren.org.

A brownfield is a former industrial or commercial site where future use is affected by real or perceived environmental contamination. Examples are gas stations, laundromats, open dumping sites, former factories and buildings involved in steel manufacturing and other industries.

Benefits of brownfield remediation include a decrease in community exposure to hazardous substances, creating safer communities by removing vacant and structurally compromised buildings, generating job growth via new development and increasing surrounding property values, according to TNP’s website.

Contamination does not need to be definite for sites to be referred to the brownfield program. If past uses of the property potentially involved or created potential contaminants, it is worth referring the site. The hazards present may not be clearly visible, but could still be very dangerous. Once sites and project partners are identified, the cleanup advances.

Some brownfield projects in Trumbull County that could be eligible include the former McDonald Steel site, former Warren Delphi Packard plant, former U.S. Steel site, former Trumbull Industries, former Kunkle plant, former Diversified Resources U.S. plant in Champion, former Leatherworks plant in Girard, former General Electric plant in Niles, and the former Peerless Winsmith factory in Warren

Some brownfield sites that already have been remediated through the grant program include the former Republic Steel / BRT Extrusions, the former Warren Community Development building, former Mahoningside power plant in Warren, former St. Joseph Riverside Hospital, the former Wean Building in Warren and the former RG Steel plant, which soon will become a manufacturing facility for Kimberly-Clark.