The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a proposed partial deletion of a 70-acre portion of Operable Unit 01 at the U.S. Finishing/Cone Mills Superfund Site, Greenville, SC, from the National Priorities List (NPL).
The deletion will benefit the environment, the Upstate community, and the people of South Carolina.
“The partial deletion at the U.S. Finishing/Cone Mills Superfund Site is the result of our dedicated focus to improve the human health and the environment for the community of Greenville,” said EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman. “EPA will continue to work with all our partners to ensure that our cleanup actions benefit the community of Greenville now and in the future.”
This is the second partial deletion at the site in two years reflecting EPA’s commitment to work with the community, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) and the developers to facilitate the beneficial reuse of the site.
EPA completed the sitewide Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study in 2020 and worked with the developer and SCDHEC to implement a series of interim steps designed to align financing and ongoing work to be completed. This closely coordinated effort is resulting in up to $5 million in cleanup work being performed by the developer, and an overall investment in the community of $1.9 to $3.4 billion over the next 15 years.
Background
The NPL includes the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination. EPA deletes sites or parts of sites from the NPL when no further cleanup is required to protect human health or the environment. Years, and sometimes decades, of complex investigation and cleanup work have gone into getting these sites to where they are today.
While EPA encourages site reuse throughout the cleanup process, deletions from the NPL can revitalize communities, raise property values, and promote economic growth by signaling to potential developers and financial institutions that cleanup is complete.
When hazardous substances and pollutants or contaminants remain on a site above levels that permit unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, EPA conducts follow-up reviews every five years—even after NPL deletion—to ensure Superfund remedies continue to protect people and the environment. These reviews provide an opportunity to evaluate the remedy to determine whether it remains protective.
The EPA and SCDHEC, have determined that all appropriate responses under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), as amended, have been implemented for this deletion. The EPA and the SCDHEC have determined that remedial actions conducted at the Site to date have been protective of public health, welfare, and the environment.
However, this deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund. To view the Federal Register notice please visit https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-SFUND-2002-0008-0061EXIT EPA WEBSITE.
Additional information about EPA’s NPL deletions: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/deleted-national-priorities-list-npl-sites-state
To search for information about these and other NPL sites, visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/search-superfund-sites-where-you-live