News Releases from Region 04
EPA Announces Cleanup Amendment for Koppers Superfund Site in Charleston, SC to Facilitate Redevelopment
ATLANTA (February 15, 2018) – The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced an amendment to the cleanup plan for the Koppers Superfund Site in Charleston, SC.
EPA’s cleanup plan is an amendment to the original remedy on the Koppers site, and includes an estimated $30 million in additional cleanup work. A consortium of developers will implement the cleanup under EPA oversight. This additional cleanup work will be protective of human health and the environment and will also facilitate the redevelopment of the Koppers site into a new mixed-use community that includes residential and other uses.
“We have made it a priority to clean up Superfund sites quickly, safely and thoroughly,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “This amendment improves the original remedy for Koppers and ensures that our cleanup is comprehensive and returns this site to productive use.”
The additional cleanup work in the amendment includes: stabilization and solidification of creosote in the subsurface of the Old Impoundment Area instead of the ongoing recovery system; installation of a more permanent soil exposure cover to support a change in land use; replacement of existing drainage ditches with a subterranean storm sewer system consistent with future use; and a waiver for groundwater criteria at two areas on-site; a 4.5-acre area at the Old Impoundment Area, and a 1-acre area at the Northwest Corner.
The 102-acre Koppers site is located in Charleston, South Carolina. It includes the area where the Koppers Company operated a wood treatment facility from 1940 to 1978. EPA placed the site on the Superfund Program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 1994 because of contaminated groundwater, sediment, soil and surface water resulting from facility operations. EPA, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) and Beazer East, Inc., the site’s potentially responsible party (PRP), have investigated site conditions and taken steps to clean up the site in order to protect people and the environment from contamination. Site contamination does not currently threaten people living and working near the site.
The Superfund program is a cornerstone of the work that the EPA performs for citizens and communities across the country. On July 25, 2017 Administrator Pruitt accepted recommendations from the Superfund Task Force established on May 22, 2017 to revitalize the Superfund program. The Koppers site is on EPA’s Superfund Redevelopment Focus List of sites with the greatest expected redevelopment and commercial potential created under the Superfund Task Force. The site is part of an infill development project that is expected to include a mix of residential, retail, office/hotel space and parks. Additionally, the developer plans to invest approximately $25-$30 million in enhancements to the remedy prior to the redevelopment.
Superfund redevelopment has helped countless communities reclaim and reuse thousands of acres of formerly contaminated land.
More information about the Koppers Superfund Site: www.epa.gov/superfund/koppers-charleston-plant
Connect with EPA Region 4 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eparegion4
And on Twitter: @EPASoutheast
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