Florence Prepares to Bring Cleaner Soil to Former Bush Recycling Center
Florence Morning News - March 02, 2008
By Charles Tomlinson
FLORENCE — Florence is preparing to bring in new soil to replace the contaminated earth at the former Bush Recycling Center and keep the city’s downtown revitalization moving forward.
“There’s no doubt that it’s an integral part of changing downtown Florence,” Griffin said of the site near North Irby and West Lucas streets.
The city hopes in the coming weeks to receive bids from specialized contractors to replace the soil as part of a $1 million cleanup.
The city hasn’t been able to determine what it will do with the site, although it has developed some conceptual drawings including business and public-service uses.
“I’m just anxious for them to finish the cleanup and tell us what level of development we can put on that property,” Florence Mayor Frank Willis said.
The city’s original downtown development team identified the site as the No. 1 catalyst project for spurring downtown development, Griffin said.
But first, there’s a great deal of cleaning to do.
“Every type of scrap metal that you could imagine was in here,” Griffin said.
Those metals and other materials are pressed into the ground after trucks and other vehicles drove over them during the past half-century, he said.
Most people remember an old airplane that once sat on the site, Griffin said.
Chemicals in the ground include lead from batteries and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, which Griffin called one of the “nastier” chemicals.
PCBs were banned in 1979, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. They were used in electrical equipment including transformers and capacitors as well as motor oil, thermal insulation, plastics and adhesives.
Officials expect the soil removal and replacement contract to be no longer than 90 days, Griffin said.
The cleanup could face a delay of one or two weeks while a company tests the soil that remains after the first two feet of dirt are removed, Griffin said. That must be done before the new soil is brought in, he said.
Because of the property’s contaminated soil, the use of groundwater would be restricted and a detailed stormwater management plan is necessary, Griffin said.
Three years ago, the city used a $500,000 Drs. Bruce and Lee Foundation grant to acquire the recycling center site, which was relocated off TV Road outside Florence.
The property covers about 6½ acres, of which less than five acres are involved in the cleanup, Griffin said.
Florence is paying for the cleanup primarily through a $625,000 S.C. Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund, which requires a $125,000 match from the city.
Brownfields are sites such as the former recycling center where expansion, development or reuse could be complicated by the presence or possible presence of contaminants, according to the EPA.
The 10-year loan, which carries a 1 percent annual interest rate, qualifies for forgiveness of 30 percent, or $187,500, of the borrowed amount.
The city will pay the balance of the estimated $1 million cleanup with a $200,000 EPA grant and $40,000 in matching city funds.