S.C. Brownfield Grants Bolstered by ARRA Funds
An estimated $3.6 million in grants were bolstered by funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to help communities in South Carolina clean up brownfields in the state.
The grants, which include $1.6 million from the Recovery Act and $2 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency brownfields general program funding, will help to revitalize former industrial and commercial sites, turning them from problem properties to productive community use.
Applicants selected to receive Recovery Act funds are Aiken—$200,000 for the Avondale Mill Assessment along with $400,000 of community-wide assessment funds and Columbia—$1million in assessment coalition funds.
Applicants selected to receive brownfields general program funds are:
- Central Carolina Technical College - $200,000 for the clean up of the former Western Auto Site
- Dillon - $400,000 for community-wide assessment
- Greenville - $600K for community-wide assessment and clean up of the Smart Property
- North Charleston - $400,000 for community-wide assessment
- Rock Hill - $200,000 for cleanup of the former Arcade Mill and
- Spartanburg - $200K for the cleanup of the former Victor Mill.
The grants will help to assess, cleanup and redevelop abandoned, contaminated properties known as brownfields. Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In addition, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002 expanded the definition of a brownfield to include mine-scarred lands or sites contaminated by petroleum or the manufacture of illegal drugs. Grant recipients are selected through a national competition. The Brownfields Program encourages development of America's estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.