Ware Shoals Continues to Face Environment Concerns From Old Mill

WARE SHOALS — Riegel Textiles closed its doors more than two decades ago, but town leaders continue to face environmental and development concerns over the former mill.

By Jennifer Colton, Staff Writer, Greenwood Index Journal
Thursday, April 9, 2009

Summary: On Wednesday, Ware Shoals Town Council met with environmental scientist Brian Kvam and Brownfields specialist Gail Jeter, both of Concurrent Technologies Corp., to discuss options for the mill site and fly ash landfill.

During the textile operation, fly ash, a waste by-product of burned coal from the mill’s power generator, was dumped in holes across Ware Shoals, primarily in a 3.07 acre slope between the mill parking lot and the Saluda River. The ash contains heavy metals and concentrations of pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which can contaminate the river when carried by stormwater run-off and erosion.

In August 2008, fly ash removal and disposal began on the site under a Brownfields Cleanup Grant Project. Originally, project coordinators expected the $200,000 grant and its $40,000 matching funds to fully cover the clean-up costs.

“From early studies, we originally thought that there was a small amount of fly ash, between 1,200 and 1,600 tons. We really felt that, based on the information we had, the $240,000 would take care of the whole area, roughly 3 acres,” Kvam said.

As work began, however, the crew discovered the depth of the landfill far exceeded expectations. Kvam said he estimates about 35,000 tons of fly ash remain in the site after the 2008 clean-up; that project cost about $30 per ton removed. Using the same procedure, complete site abatement would cost $1.1 million just for fly ash removal and disposal. It would cost about $1.7 million to engineer and backfill the site. About $65,000 remains from the Brownfields grant.

“We took that information and partnered with EnviroSmart,” Kvam said. “Basically, we asked them to come up with three options for us. All three options entail consolidating all the (fly ash) material in one area and covering it in.” All three option include building some structure or retaining wall to keep the ash contained and prevent it continuing to drift toward the river. One option includes engineering a cover to cap the fly ash; the other two involve separating out all dumped, non-fly ash material, and mixing the fly ash with concrete.

“Really, it just turns it into a big concrete block. The difference between option two and option three is that option two actually leaves some of the fly ash exposed. I don’t believe DHEC would see this as a viable option. They want all the fly ash covered,” Kvam said.

With any option, the town would be responsible for long-term care and maintenance of the site, which would have building restrictions based on the contamination and structural stability. Faced with the project costs, Ware Shoals Mayor Sonny Frederick asked what would happen if the town took no action of the fly ash landfill.

“You’re under contract with DHEC to do certain actions. If you don’t do those, DHEC will terminate that contract, and you will lose all that liability protection,” former DHEC employee Jeter said. “You would become a potential liability, a potential responsible party for that site, just like Riegel would be. You would, at a minimum, lose your liability. At a maximum, DHEC could pursue you as a potentially responsible party and make you clean it up to their standard.”

As a liable party, the city would have less eligibility for grant programs and would have no choice in determining the method to clean-up the property, Jeter added.

Finding funding for the continued clean-ups will remain difficult. The town cannot receive another Brownsfield grant for the project or a Community Development Block Grant, because that program funded a project on the mill site.

For Bureau of Water grants and State Revolving Loan Funds, the project would be very low priority, Jeter said, but that ranking could change if phosphorus, already a major concern in the Saluda River, is found in the fly ash material. Council authorized Jeter to test for the element and submit a revolving loan fund survey to gauge eligibility once the test is completed.

“The best option, I think, is the Brownsfield Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund, which has 1 percent interest and 30 percent forgiveness for local government,” Jeter said. “The work you need to do definitely falls into that program, and they are supposed to get stimulus money to supplement what they’re already doing. Most of (the stimulus money) is supposed to be granted. I can’t promise it would be granted, but I still think that’s your best option.”