News Releases from Region 04

Koppers Co., Inc. in Charleston, S.C. included on EPA Superfund Redevelopment Focus List

ATLANTA (January 17, 2018) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its initial list of Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) sites with the greatest expected redevelopment and commercial potential.  The Koppers Co., Inc. (Charleston Plant) site is one of 31 sites on the list.

“EPA is more than a collaborative partner to remediate the nation’s most contaminated sites, we’re also working to successfully integrate Superfund sites back into communities across the country,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “Today’s redevelopment list incorporates Superfund sites ready to become catalysts for economic growth and revitalization.”

The Koppers Co., Inc. (Charleston Plant) 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. A water line connects residents and businesses to the public water supply. By treating and monitoring groundwater, placing institutional controls on the site property and undertaking Five-Year Reviews, EPA, SCDHEC and the site’s PRP continue to protect people and the environment from site contamination.

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 make between $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. Superfund sites on the list have significant redevelopment potential based on previous outside interest, access to transportation corridors, land values, and other critical development drivers.

In July 2017, the Superfund Task Force released its recommendations to streamline and improve the Superfund program including a focus on redevelopment training, tools and resources towards sites on the NPL. EPA will work diligently with developers interested in reusing these and other Superfund sites; will identify potentially interested businesses and industries to keep them apprised of redevelopment opportunities; and will continue to engage with community groups in cleanup and redevelopment activities to ensure the successful redevelopment and revitalization of their communities. 

Administrator Pruitt has set the expectation that there will be a renewed focus on accelerating work and progress at all Superfund sites across the country. The Superfund Program remains dedicated to addressing risk and accelerating progress at all of its sites, not just those on the list.

This is not a complete list of sites in the Superfund program with redevelopment potential. The list is intended to be dynamic. Sites will move on and off the list as appropriate.

For more information, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund-redevelopment-initiative/superfund-redevelopment-focus-list

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