OA Brownfields 2002 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
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EPA Brownfields Initiative
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states,
communities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield 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. Additionally, funding support is
provided to state and tribal response programs through a
separate mechanism.
Background
EPA has selected the City of Laurens for a Brownfields
Assessment Pilot. Laurens (population 9,916) is a rural
community near Greenville in northwestern South
Carolina. Plant closings, including the shutdown of the
Laurens Glass Plant, have tripled the city's
unemployment rate in the past year. With the loss of
large industry and mid-size farm operations, Laurens has
been unable to maintain a stable economy. As a result,
the majority of Laurens' workforce now commutes to
work in neighboring counties, which are seeing their
populations grow while Lauren's population remains flat.
Laurens' poverty level is 19.8 percent, 5 percent higher
than the state average, and its 10.8 percent
unemployment rate is more than double that of the state.
The median household income is $22,338, compared to
$33,325 for the state. The city's minority population is
nearly 44 percent, compared to 30 percent for the state.
Laurens will focus on its downtown area for this Pilot.
This target area includes about 12 potential brownfields
properties covering more than 15 acres of abandoned
land. The Laurens Glass Plant, two mills, and a salvage
yard are among these downtown sites. They once
represented a significant tax base, but the abandonment
and deterioration of these and other old commercial and
industrial facilities in the downtown area have deterred
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Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 05/01/2002
Amount: $200,000
Profile: City of Laurens, South Carolina. The Pilot
targets brownfields sites in downtown Laurens in
order to revitalize the area into a viable business,
visitor, and shopping center and help return
economic stability to the city.
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
(http ://www .epa.gov/brownfields).
EPA Region 4 Brownfields Team
(404) 562-8792
EPA Region 4 Brownfields Web site
(http ://www .epa.gov/region4/waste/bf)
Grant Recipient: Laurens,SC
(864)984-3933
Objectives
The city's objective is to revitalize the downtown area of
Laurens, which has been negatively impacted by the
closing of several industrial sites in recent years. To
accomplish this objective, the Pilot will identify and
address perceived and real environmental issues
associated with abandoned or underutilized properties in
and around Laurens's downtown area. Pilot funds will
be used to inventory and prioritize potential
brownfields; involve the community in the inventory
and decision making processes; conduct up to five
Phase I and three Phase II environmental assessments;
and complete risk assessments, cleanup, and
redevelopment plans for two properties.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Inventorying and prioritizing potential
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-02-050
May 02

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Developers wary of purchasing these brownfields have
instead constructed new facilities on greenspace parcels
outside the incorporated areas of the county.
brownfields sites;
•	Reaching out to the community to inform them
about the project and encourage their
involvement in the inventory and decision
making processes;
•	Conducting Phase I assessments at up to five
priority sites;
•	Conducting Phase II assessments at up to three of
these priority sites; and
•	Completing risk assessments and developing
integrated cleanup and redevelopment plans for
two of these priority sites.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet
been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this
fact sheet are subject to change.
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 negotiated. Therefore, activities
described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
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