&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-98-146
May 1998
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Charleston, SC
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
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. Since 1995, EPA has funded more than 150 Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of
brownfields solutions. The Pilots 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 Charleston for a
Brownfields Pilot. The city is targeting its "Neck"
area, a 7.3-square-mile federal Enterprise Community
(EC) located north of historic Charleston and south of
the closed Charleston Naval Complex. Approximately
22,500 people live in the 19 neighborhoods comprising
the EC, where the unemployment rate is over 10%,
and 40% of the families live in poverty. The median
household income in the EC is $ 11,095.
Despite contamination from old fertilizer plants and
industrial activities dating back more than 100 years,
the area has high potential for redevelopment due to
its existing infrastructure and proximity to multiple
transportation routes. Businesses and commercial
developers have been reluctant to invest in the Neck
area in fear of environmental contamination of the
area's abandoned buildings and vacant lots.
Community outreach activities conducted by the
Enterprise Community Advisory Council have
determined that residents' priority needs are additional
jobs and everyday services.
OBJECTIVES
The city's objective is to create sustainable, healthy
neighborhoods that promote economic growth, job
opportunities, and improvements in the quality of life
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Charleston, South Carolina
Date of Announcement:
May 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
brownfields in the
Charleston Enterprise
Community for
development into a light
industrial park for
manufacturing and
distribution.
Contacts:
Department of Housings
Community Development
City of Charleston
(803) 724-3766
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 4
(404) 562-8923
Visit the EPA Region 4 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region4/wastepgs/
brownfpgs/bf.htm
Forfurtherinformation, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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for residents. The Pilot will focus on identifying
properties in the EC that are suitable for assessment
and future cleanup and redevelopment into a light
industrial park, including manufacturing and distribution
facilities, as a tool to promote redevelopment in the
community. The city has potential candidate sites.
Criteria for site selection include: the property owner's
willingness to participate; parcel size of at least 30
acres; proximity to existing transportation routes;
likelihood of contamination; and community support
for the site. The Pilot will complete site identification,
conduct environmental site assessments, conduct risk
assessments, develop a cleanup and redevelopment
plan, and coordinate outreach activities in the EC for
the proposed industrial park.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Identifying properties in the EC that are suitable for
cleanup and redevelopment;
• Conducting environmental and risk assessments at
the candidate sites;
• Conducting a community involvement program to
ensure the concerns of the community are addressed;
• Preparing cleanup and redevelopment plans; and
• Identifying financing techniques for cleanup and
redevelopment.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been
negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet
are subject to change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Charleston, South Carolina
May 1998 EPA500-F-98-146
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