Press Release

Last summer the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the City of Laurens was one of 38 communities in the United States to receive a $200,000 grant to identify, assess and plan for the redevelopment of abandoned or under-used (Brownfield) properties. “Being one of a select few out of many applications provides Laurens a great opportunity, and would not have happened without bi-partisan support from the local delegation, then Congressman Lindsey Graham, Senator Ernest Hollings and Governor Jim Hodges,” says City Administrator Gene Madden.

According to EPA, a Brownfield is an abandoned or underutilized industrial or commercial property where the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or perceived presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Over the next several years the City will work with interested owners, developers and community leaders to revitalize select properties within the City limits. The City does not yet have a definite list of properties that will be able to participate in this grant, but the selection process will begin this month. Madden states, “The ultimate goal of the Brownfield grant is to create jobs and help reverse the impact of losing more than 750 jobs being within the city limits over the last few years.”

Bill Tumblin, a consultant on the project from Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC), adds, “President Bush recently increased funding to the program due to the positive impact that the program is having on communities around the United States.” A great example of what a Brownfield grant can do for a community is right down the road. Ware Shoals received a Brownfield grant a couple of years ago and has been able to parlay that into additional funding to help redevelop the site of the former Riegel Plant. The City of Laurens hopes to do the same thing with multiple properties.

The Brownfield program is a non-regulatory program managed by the EPA and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). Eric Oltman of CTC states, “A bunch of government regulators will NOT be running around Laurens. Brownfield Pilot grants are designed to help stimulate the local economy and rpomite redevelopment of idle properties. This is really an economic development grant, not an environmental grant.”

Over the first few months of the grant there will be a series of Community meetings seeking input about existing properties and new their potential for redevelopment. The goal of the community input meetings is to give developers ideas of what is needed and wanted in the community.

The City and CTC will then work with environmental firms to conduct environmental assessments on high priority properties. The grant will pay for these studies usually required by lenders.

If no environmental contamination is found on a property, then the owner of the property has received free environmental studies and can progress toward redeveloping the property. Support from the grant will also help the owners match up with potential developers.

If environmental contamination is found at any of the sites, being classified a Brownfield participant is best possible scenario for that discovery to occur. While the grant cannot pay for environmental clean up itself, several benefits are afforded to Brownfield participants.

• First, Brownfield grants allow for innovative and preferential ways to address environmental contaminants.
• Second, if remediation is needed the property can qualify for low-interest loans and potential follow-on remediation grants.
• Third, the environmental actions are not managed by the regulatory arms of the EPA and DHEC.

Gene Maddens states, “The options are really very broad and are guided by the needs of the owner, the developer, the community and the presence of environmental contamination, if any. The bottom line is that grant funds will be used to sort through all of the options and fund remediation and redevelopment planning so that the City of Laurens can prosper.”