United States
                   Environmental
                   Protection Agency
                   Washington, D.C. 20460
 Solid Waste
 and Emergency
 Response (5101)
 EPA 500-F-00-127
 May 2000
 www.epa.gov/brownfields/
  \>EPA   Brownfields Assessment
                   Demonstration  Pilot
                                                          Ware Shoals,  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 Town of Ware Shoals for a
Brownfields Pilot.  Ware  Shoals, located  in the
northwestern portion of South Carolina,  has  a
population of 2,497. The Pilot will focus on the former
Riegel Textile Corporation mill site, a27-acre property
located in the heart of the community along the Saluda
River. The Riegel Textile  Corporation operated a
textile mill for nearly 75 years. Following a series of
land sales, transfers, and foreclosures, the property
was essentially abandoned  and left to deteriorate.
The abandonment of the mill led to the closure of
many of the mill's supporting industries and businesses.
The town  subsequently experienced increases in
unemployment, absentee ownership of residential
properties, and criminal activities. Approximately 37
percent of children and 22 percent of working adults
in the Pilot area live in poverty.

Some assessment work has been done on the property.
However, contamination still remains in some areas.
In 1998, in response to public  interest, the town
became actively interested in aiding the redevelopment
of the  property.  The  town has completed  a
redevelopment study for the Pilot area and has taken
steps to acquire the property from the current owner.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
                      Date of Announcement:
                      May 2000

                      Amount: $200,000

                      Profile:  The Pilot targets
                      the 27-acre former Riegel
                      Textile Corporation mill site.
   Ware Shoals, SC
Contacts:
Town of Ware Shoals
(864)456-7478
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

  For further information, 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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OBJECTIVES

The town's goal is to resurrect the heart of the Ware
Shoals community by capitalizing on the natural beauty
of the nearby Saluda River.  The Pilot area will be
used in conjunction with 15 acres of adjacent, publicly
owned land to create approximately 40 acres of
parkland. The town's zoning and economic tools will
be used to encourage  private  commercial and
community improvement investment immediately
surrounding the park. The benefits of this development
effort include a greatly enhanced quality of life for
local residents, reduced environmental  and public
health risks, and economic rebirth. The Pilot provides
the resources to perform  environmental  site
assessments,  encourage public involvement and
stakeholder participation, and develop an ongoing
monitoring plan.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Conducting initial and post-cleanup environmental
  site assessments;

• Holding between 20 and 24 public and stakeholder
  input sessions; and

• Planning and implementing an ongoing environmental
  monitoring  program once the redevelopment
  activities are completed.

The cooperative agreementforthis Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
 Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot                                                Ware Shoals, SC
 May2000                                                                         EPA 500-F-00-127

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