ABOUT THE SITE:
Success Stories - Renewable Energy on Contaminated Land
Keystone Industrial Port Complex, Pennsylvania
Solar and wind power equipment manufactured at former steel mill
Site History
The Keystone Industrial Port Complex (KIPC) is located in
Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, on the Delaware River 20 miles
north of Philadelphia. The 2,200-acre brownfield is the former
site of U.S. Steel Fairless Works. In operation since 1952, the
Fairless Works complex formerly housed a coke production
plant, steel making, finishing and forging operations, a
powerhouse and chemical plant. The site is still home to a U.S.
Steel sheet and tin facility employing 100 workers, but the
remaining operations were closed in 1991 and demolished in
1995, leaving over 1,200 acres available for redevelopment.
In 1993, EPA and U.S. Steel entered into a Consent Order for
cleanup of the entire Fairless Works site. The property was
divided into parcels based on selling or leasing potential, each
with its own timetable for cleanup of soil and groundwater
contamination. After the closure of most mill operations by
2001, the primary site owner, U.S. Steel, demolished 5 million
square feet of old buildings and began to market the parcels for
reuse that would result in job creation. The site's extensive
physical infrastructure and access to road, rail and water
transport make the KIPC an attractive location for industrial
tenants. In 2005, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
designated 1,289 acres of the site as one of 12 Keystone
Opportunity Improvement Zones (KOIZ) in the state, to
encourage the development of new industry in the area, which
experienced the loss of over 5,000 jobs in the 1980s and 1990s.
The KOIZ designation allows companies who move to the zone
to apply for exemptions from certain state and local taxes for up
to 10 years.
Renewable Energy Manufacturing
The Fairless Hills site, once the home of a steel industry
complex, is now a renewable energy manufacturing success
story. Several companies with close ties to wind, solar or
biofuel energy are located on the site. The Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania designed an incentive package for each renewable
energy manufacturing facility at the KIPCthrough the
Governor's Action Team, a committee of economic
development professionals that serves as a single point of
contact for businesses considering locating or expanding in
Pennsylvania. The team works with domestic and international
businesses, site consultants, and investors on projects
possessing significant investment and job creation
opportunities. The two largest renewable energy tenants on the
site are Gamesa, a wind turbine manufacturer, and AE
Polysilicon, a producer of material for photovoltaic solar panels.
Location:
Property Size:
Available for Reuse:
Site Ownership:
Former Use:
Contaminants:
Project Type:
Infrastructure:
Supported Use:
EPA Region 3, Bucks County, PA
1,289 acres
450 acres available for purchase
U.S. Steel, other private owners
Steel mill, coke production plant
TCE, heavy metals
EPA RCRA and PADEP Act 2 Land
Recycling Program
Port, extensive onsite rail, industrial
water and sewer
Materials processing and manufacturing
RENEWABLE ENERGY MANUFACTURING:
RE Activity:
Incentives:
Dollars Leveraged:
Jobs Leveraged:
Key Partners:
Current Status:
Manufacturing polysilicon for solar PV
panels, wind turbines
$11.92 million in loans, grants, tax
incentives
$104 million
450
Colorado Department of Public Health
and Environment; National
Renewable Energy Laboratories, EPA
Region 8
Wind turbine plant operational July
2008, Polysilicon plant construction
begins July 2009
FACILITY CONTACT: Kathy Mayher, Senior Environmental Engineer, US Steel: (412) 433-6315, kmmayher@uss.com
EPA CONTACT: Linda Matyskiela, US EPA Region 3: (215) 814-3420, matyskiela.linda@epa.gov
To learn more about siting renewable energy on contaminated land, visit: www.epa.gov/renewableenergyland
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Success Stories - Renewable Energy on Contaminated Land
Keystone Industrial Port Complex, Pennsylvania
Solar and wind power equipment manufactured at former steel mill
: In June 2008, Spanish wind energy corporation Gamesa, whose North
American headquarters are in Philadelphia, invested $34 million to open three new
manufacturing centers on over 20 acres at the KIPC. Gamesa's blade-
manufacturing plant will produce parts for the company's two-megawatt wind
turbines, which incorporate technologically advanced materials such as carbon
fiber construction. A second plant will manufacture towers for the wind turbine
platforms, and the third will produce the turbines' nacelles, which house the
generation components. The wind turbines produced by the plant each year will
have a generation capacity of 1,000 megawatts, enough to power more than
300,000 homes. The company currently employs over 100 primarily technical
workers, and expects to create another 250 jobs by the time all three plants are at
full capacity. Along with the Bucks County Economic Development Corporation,
the state Department of Community and Economic Development (PA DECD)
offered Gamesa a financial package totaling approximately $10 million in loans,
grants and tax credits for the three manufacturing centers.
AE PolySillCOn: Start-up solar material manufacturer AE Polysilicon Corporation will turn 20 acres of land and a
vacant 39,000-square-foot building within the KIPC into a corporate headquarters and facility for manufacturing
polysilicon, the raw material used to produce the solar cells and modules that convert solar energy into electricity. The
company will begin construction on the $70 million manufacturing facility in July 2009, creating over 140 permanent
and 60 construction jobs. PA DECD and Bucks County worked with AE Polysilicon to secure a $1.92 million financial
package including a $1.76 million loan, a $100,000 opportunity grant and $65,000 in customized job training funds.
The company is also eligible to apply for a $5.8 million loan |
through the Citizens Job Bank Program, which offers low-
interest loans to companies creating or expanding jobs in
Pennsylvania.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS:
Steel mill site attracts new manufacturing facilities
through Keystone Opportunity Improvement Zone status.
Gamesa USA and AE Polysilicon will invest $104 million
in renewable energy facilities, creating 450 green jobs.
Solar and wind power equipment will supply renewable
energy generation projects in the region and beyond.
The wind turbines produced at the site each year will
produce enough electricity to power 300,000 homes.
Economic Development Strategies
The redevelopment of the Fairless Hills site as a green
industrial complex is the result of targeted policies and
programs aimed at energy independence and economic
development. Pennsylvania attributes more than $1 billion in
economic growth and the creation of 3,000 jobs since 2004 to
the rapid growth in wind and solar power, biofuels
manufacturing, and other areas supporting these sectors.
Development of renewable energy supports Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard, whose mandate of
18 percent renewable power production by 2020 is expected to further drive wind and solar development in the state.
Gamesa and AE Polysilicon are important parts of the supply chain required to reduce the costs of renewable energy
and boost generation capacity.
Pennsylvania's 2006 Energy Independence Strategy also played a key role in the development of renewable energy
manufacturing at the site. The strategy accelerates the production of renewable energy components and systems with
over $100 million available (and an additional $500 million proposed) in the form of venture capital, loans and grants
to attract private investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency-related economic development projects. One of
the strategy's key components, the Pennsylvania Sunshine Solar Initiative, offers specific benefits to manufacturers
through production grants and rebates.
The KIPC continues to market these incentives to potential tenants in renewable energy manufacturing and other
^advanced manufacturing industries identified by the Commonwealth as key areas of future economic growth.
FACILITY CONTACT: Kathy Mayher, Senior Environmental Engineer, US Steel: (412) 433-6315, kmmayher@uss.com
EPA CONTACT: Linda Matyskiela, US EPA Region 3: (215) 814-3420, matyskiela.linda@epa.gov
To learn more about siting renewable energy on contaminated land, visit: www.epa.gov/renewableenergyland
This fact sheet is for informational purposes only. EPA does not endorse the property or the purchase or sale of commercial property.
Any prospective purchaser must contact the property owner to discuss the suitability, availability and sale of this property.
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