United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5101) EPA 500-F-00-100 May 2000 www.epa.gov/brownfields/ \>EPA Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Greenville, SC Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105) Quick Reference Fact Sheet EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment. BACKGROUND EPA has selected the City of Greenville for a Brownfields Pilot. The area west of downtown, known as the West Greenville/Reedy River Corridor, was the textile center ofthe region in the early 1800s. With the decline in the textile industry and development ofthe eastern part ofthe city in the mid-1900s, the Corridor fell into economic decline. Nearly one-third ofthe residents in the area lives in poverty, and more than half ofthe population (15,294 in the Corridor) is African American. The metropolitan area of Greenville has experienced significant economic growth in recent years, but that prosperity has yetto flow over into the West Greenville/ Reedy River Corridor. This area remains blighted by a number of abandoned and underutilized industrial properties, including several large textile facilities and bleacheries. Perceived or known environmental contamination has limited development in the Corridor and has raised concerns regarding water quality, river sediment, and flood plain deposits. PILOT SNAPSHOT Date of Announcement: May 2000 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Greenville Pilot will address brownfields in the West Greenville/Reedy RiverCorridor, an area blighted by abandoned textile mills and bleacheries. Greenville, SC Contacts: West Greenville/Reedy RiverCorridor Revitalization City of Greenville (864)467-4495 Regional Brownfields Team U.S. EPA-Region 4 (404)562-8661 Visit the EPA Region 4 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/region4/wastepgs/brownfpgs/bf.htm Forfurther information, including specific Pilot contacts, additional Pilot information, brownfields newsand events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ ------- OBJECTIVES The Greenville Pilot plans to identify, address, and remove real and perceived environmental concerns in the Corridor that currently stand in the way of redevelopment. Community input will be sought in all stages, from developing an inventory of potential brownfields to creating a redevelopment strategy. The overall goal is to facilitate economic revitalization in the Corridor in a manner that ensures protection of human health and the environment. ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Developing a site inventory of the targeted area; • Selecting up to five high-priority sites for Phase I environmental assessments; • Performing Phase II site assessments on three of the selected sites; • Creating a detailed cleanup and redevelopment plan for at least one site; and • Forming a task force of representatives from local and neighborhood groups, developers, lenders, businesses, and city, county, and state governments to help direct the implementation of the project. The cooperative agreementforthis Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subjectto change. Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Greenville, SC May2000 EPA 500-F-00-100 ------- |