EPA to Fund New Brownfields Project in SC

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has announced it will provide $25,000 in technical assistance for a Brownfields pilot study in Greenville, South Carolina. The EPA will also work with the city of Greenville in developing the Brownfields project.

The city of Greenville plans to convert a contaminated Brownfields site located within the city via a sustainable redevelopment project. Currently the site of a former service station and supermarket, the city plans to convert the site into a block of affordable housing.

Cleaning up the site will involve removal of a substantial amount of asbestos and lead paint, as well as removal of old tanks and demolition of buildings.

Contaminants such as asbestos and lead pain must be removed before demolition can be carried out, due to the hazards associated with exposure to these toxins. Other issues such as the removal of old tanks from the former service station require that the project be developed and implemented carefully.

Another issue is that Greenville plans to incorporated as many sustainable features and construction materials as possible in developing the new housing, with energy-efficient designs and use of specific types of construction materials.

Brownfield is the term used to describe sites which are federally designated as being contaminated sites. The Brownfield Redevelopment Program is designed to offer financial incentives for companies to redevelop old industrial and commercial properties which are contaminated with hazardous substances.

Brownfields sites are contaminated with hazardous substances such as asbestos, lead, heavy metals, solvents, and other chemicals. Many, including asbestos, are known human carcinogens.

According to EPA web site information on brownfields, “EPA’s Brownfields Program is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields.”

“It is estimated that there are more than 450,000 brownfields in the U.S. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, utilizes existing infrastructure, takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment.”

“Brownfields grants continue to serve as the foundation of EPA’s Brownfields Program. These grants support revitalization efforts by funding environmental assessment, cleanup, and job training activities.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 4:27 pm and is filed under Asbestos Testing, South Carolina. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.