5
              o
                           T>

  Brownfields 2008

  Grant  Fact Sheet

  Richland County,   SC


EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders 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 this 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. Additionally, funding support is
provided to state and tribal response programs through
a separate mechanism.

Community Description

Richland County was selected to receive two
brownfields assessment grants. Located in central
South Carolina, Richland County (population 348,226)
is focusing its brownfields efforts in Ridgewood, one of
the county's oldest communities. Ridgewood is located
just north of the City of Columbia, and is within the
federally designated Columbia-Sumter Empowerment
Zone. In its earlier years, Ridgewood was a thriving
community with working class homeowners and an
economic base of small businesses. Today, many
families and businesses have moved, and the area is
blighted with an aging housing stock and abandoned
buildings. This small, overwhelmingly minority commu-
nity lags behind the county and state in terms of
employment, median household income, and families
 Assessment Grants
 $200,000 for hazardous substances
 $200,000 for petroleum

 EPA has selected Richland County for two
 brownfields assessment grants. Hazardous sub-
 stances grant funds will be used to establish a site
 inventory and conduct six Phase I and three Phase
 II environmental site assessments. Petroleum grant
 funds will be used to establish a site inventory and
 conduct eight Phase I and four Phase II environ-
 mental site assessments. Grant funds also will be
 used to support community involvement activities.
 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
 404-562-8792
 http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf

 Grant Recipient: Richland County, SC
 803-576-2055

 The information presented in this fact sheet comes
 from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
 accuracy of this information. The cooperative
 agreement for the grant has not yet been negoti-
 ated. Therefore, activities described in this fact
 sheet are subject to change.
and individuals living in poverty. Assessment of the
area's brownfields is expected to clarify and quantify
the environmental issues associated with these proper-
ties and help the county facilitate cleanup and redevel-
opment.
                                                 Solid Waste and
                                                 Emergency Response
                                                 (5105T)
                        EPA 560-F-08-086
                        April 2008
                        www.epa.gov/brownfields

-------