Brownfields 2005 Grant Fact Sheet Rock Hill, SC EPA Brownfields Program EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu- nities, and other stakeholders in economic development to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. Abrownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Addi- tionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism. Community Description The City of Rock Hill was selected to receive a brownfields cleanup grant. Rock Hill, with a population of approximately 50,000, is located in north central South Carolina. The decline of the city's textile industry in the past 15 years has resulted in severe and rapid deterioration of the city's urban core. As a result of this decline, the urban core no longer has its main source of economic stability, and many other businesses also have closed. Because of the overall deterioration, the city has had a difficult time attracting redevelopers to the area. One part of the urban core that has been especially affected has four closed mills on 35 acres of land and several abandoned commercial structures. In this target area, 21 percent of the residents live in Cleanup Grant $160,000 for hazardous substances EPA has selected the City of Rock Hill for a brownfields cleanup grant. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to clean up the Arcade Textile Mill property at 7 Blackwell Street. Site assessments conducted earlier have shown that the mill property is contaminated with a range of hazardous substances, including asbestos, lead, chromium, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and perchloroethylene. Contacts For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/ brownfields. EPA Region 4 Brownfields Team 404-562-8684 http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/index.htm Grant Recipient: City of Rock Hill, SC 803-329-7094 The cooperative agreement for this grant has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change. poverty, and minorities make up over 75 percent of the population. The target site is the Arcade Textile Mill, which has extensive fire damage. Cleaning up the mill site will be a major step in returning the vitality to this neighborhood in the urban core by eliminating hazard- ous substances exposure, encouraging new housing construction, and providing greenspace. Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 560-F-05-051 May 2005 www.epa.gov/brownfields ------- |