Celebrating 10 Years  of Returning        **  CDA
 Superfund Sites  to Beneficial Use              trr^
      REGION 4
     Success Story
  Woolfolk Chemical
        Works:
      Fort Valley
        Georgia
                          Remediation of contaminated soils at the site.
Through  close   collaboration  with  the  community  and  local
stakeholders, EPA is helping support the remediation and reuse of the
31-acre  Woolfolk Chemical  Works  site in Fort Valley,  Georgia.
Pesticides used in daily operations at the Woolfolk  Chemical  Plant
contaminated  soil and underlying ground  water, resulting in the
addition of  the site to the National Priorities List in 1990. Cleanup
activities involved installing a ground water treatment plant,  capping
contaminated materials, excavating and treating contaminated soils and
sediments, and decontaminating or demolishing affected infrastructure.

In 1997, the Woolfolk Alliance was formed by concerned Fort Valley
citizens, elected  officials,  state legislative representatives, EPA, state
and county health representatives, and local business owners in order to
regularly discuss  the site's status and disseminate knowledge to the
community.     In  2007,  this  group  engaged  in   a  Superfund
Redevelopment Initiative reuse planning process to determine possible
ways the 18  acres in downtown Fort Valley could be put back to use.

Through the reuse planning process, the Woolfolk Alliance and EPA
have been able to work together closely to put the site back into use in
ways that will benefit the  community. Additionally, since funding can
often limit reuse possibilities, significant efforts have been made by the
City of Fort Valley to ensure that resources are available  to help
redevelop the site without using taxpayer dollars. A new library and
tourist information center are already in use on a portion of the site, and
plans for further  redevelopment  include  a multi-jurisdictional record
storing facility and a new building for nearby Fort Valley University.
The Thomas Public Library was built on a portion
of the site.
"Many of us have been working on
this project since the beginning twelve
years ago. By meeting together,
sharing our feelings, eating lunch
together, being aware of some of the
personal and family issues of those
attending, we established a
community. That relationship has
helped us solve our problems and built
trust through what is, in the best of
times, a very difficult process. There
will be life after Superfund here."
—John Stumbo, Mayor, Fort Valley,
Georgia

"This partnership has provided a
foundation for sustainable community
development, as well as environmental
cleanup in Fort Valley. This
cooperative effort serves as a working
model for a national EPA strategy to
stimulate economic redevelopment
through environmental cleanup and the
return of contaminated sites to
productive use."
—JohnH. Hankinson, Jr., former EPA
Regional Administrator
 For more information, please contact Melissa Friedland, Superfund Program Manager for Redevelopment,
 at friedland.melissa@epa.gov or (703) 603-8864 or Frank Avvisato at avvisato.frank@epa.gov or (703) 603-
 8949.
 Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation
 Superfund Redevelopment Initiative
                     August 2009

-------