oEPA Superfund Redevelopment Initiative Celebrating Succ Martin-Marietta, Sodyeco, Inc. Charlotte, North Carolina & "ReVenture is a unique opportunity for private investment, public policy and environmental stewardship to intersect and promote Charlotte's clean energy economy." — Tom McKittrick, President, Forsite Development, Inc. ReVenture Park location and the adjacent Catawba River. Source: EPA For more information, please contact Melissa Friedland at friedland.melissa@epa.gov or (703) 603-8864; or Frank Avvisato at awisato. frank@epa. gov or (703)603-8949. For more than seventy years, industrial facilities in western Charlotte, North Carolina, have produced textile dyes, chemicals and other industrial products. Today, this formerly contaminated area is the largest area of underused industrial land in Mecklenburg County. EPA has worked closely with Clariant Corporation, the site's potentially responsible party, and its state and local partners to clean up the site and support its return to productive use as the region's first 1-co-Industrial Energy Park. EPA discovered contamination at the site in 1982 - disposal of untreated chemical manufacturing wastes and landfilled materials resulted in contaminated soils and ground water. Following the site's listing on the National Priorities List (NPL), EPA and its partners developed a comprehensive remedy that included capping some site contamination in place, disposing of waste materials and contaminated soil off site, and pumping and treating site ground water. Following the site's cleanup, EPA deleted the site from the NPL in February 2012, clearing the way for the transformation of a 667-acre area along the Catawba River into ReVenture Park. To make the site's reuse possible, EPA's Superfund and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) programs worked closely with the site's owner and the community to make sure site reuse plans were compatible with the site's cleanup. In August 2011, the site's owner put land use controls in place permitting only commercial and industrial land uses across cleaned-up areas of the site and restricting land uses that are incompatible with the site remedy. The site's owner will also continue to maintain the site's remedy. "The successful reuse of the Martin-Marietta/Sodyeco site is an example of EPA's commitment to support beneficial reuse of sites, using cleanup programs to ensure protection of future users," said EPA Region 4 Superfund Division Director Franklin E, Hill. "The partnership between government and the private sector, and a vision to bring about positive change for the community has resulted in the accomplishment of a great milestone for the site. The path to redevelopment has been established and it will lead to a productive community asset. EPA will continue to work with enterprising individuals and organizations to bring new opportunities to communities impacted by contaminated sites." The site's planned redevelopment will breathe new life into the site by reusing the site's extensive existing infrastructure - rail and interstate access, a wastewater treatment facility, 500,000 square feet of existing industrial space, utility substations and transmission lines, and a 360-million-gallon containment pond - to create a platform for large-scale renewable energy and alternative fuel projects. ------- oEPA ^uperfund Redevelopment Initiative Celebrating Success: Martin-Marietta, Sodyeco, Inc. Page 2 Projects planned for ReVenture Park include: • A 30 +/- megawatt biomass power plant. • A 4 +/- megawatt photovoltaic solar field to be developed on a closed 25-acre landfill. • Anaerobic digestion facility, including an indoor composting facility. • A regional wastewater treatment facility that changes bio-solids into a renewable energy resource. • An ethanol mixing and transloading operation. • A propane fleet vehicle conversion facility. • A biofuels production facility. • A 300,000-square-foot business park focused on energy efficiency, renewable energy and environmental technology. • Office space for community organizations. Environmental stewardship is also an integral part of the site's redevelopment plans. The site's natural resources will be enhanced by a 185-acre conservation easement, wildlife habitat projects, stream restoration, and a trail system connecting the regional Carolina Thread Trail across the site to the nearby U.S. National Whitewater Center. By reclaiming, restoring and reinventing this industrial area, ReVenture Park is seeking to become a national model for innovative redevelopment and one of the leading renewable energy projects in the United States. When fully developed, ReVenture Park will generate an estimated $900 million in new investment and create more than 1,000 jobs. The project illustrates how EPA and its partners can work together to protect human health, advance environmental protection and help communities turn Superfund sites into valued assets. February 2012 Forsite ReVenture Park ------- |