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Brownfields Success Stories
Cowpens' Community Rallies Around Brownfields Site
A 228,000-square-foot baby clothes manufacturing plant was once the largest employer in Cowpens, SC, employing 400 in a town of only 2,000 residents. The clothing company purchased the site in 1981, secured by an agreement between the county and the manufacturer's parent company to guarantee $10 million in industrial revenue bonds. The manufacturer's parent firm eventually sold the clothing company to a group of investors who shut down the Cowpens plant in 1990. The clothing company defaulted on the industrial revenue bonds in 1992, and the county was left holding title to the abandoned property. Inside the dormant facility, town officials discovered 85 drums of industrial chemicals, with no responsible party to pay for cleanup. Potential liability fears prevented developers from buying the site, which is located between the town's elementary and middle schools. To help the town address these problems, EPA awarded Cowpens a $200,000 EPA Brownfields Assessment Pilot Grant in May, 1997. This funding has allowed Cowpens to leverage time and services aimed at the revitalization of the abandoned plant. Through negotiations with the Pilot Coordinator, Cowpens was able to leverage $86,125 worth of free services towards the site's redevelopment. A national environmental cleanup company agreed to test the contents of the 85 barrels and remove them from the site free of charge. A local environmental company next performed an asbestos and lead paint survey on the property, and estimated the costs associated with cleanup. A local roofing company conducted a roofing evaluation on the abandoned building, also free of charge. In addition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is committing $15,000 to explore different cleanup approaches for the site's groundwater contamination. The Pilot also leveraged funding from The University of South Carolina at Columbia, which will provide $55,143 for technical services related to the design and development of a proposed Industrial Ecology Park on the 70-acre site. The town provided $26,000 in support of this plan. As the first small town Assessment Pilot in the country, a number of interested parties are watching Cowpens' progress. The town is hoping that its successful approach to this former manufacturing site can serve as a model for brownfields redevelopment in small communities across the country. For more information on the Cowpens Pilot, contact Elizabeth Belenchia at (864) 949-5250.