Berkeley County’s Brownfield Grant initiative making strides in St. Stephen
October 17, 2023
Community Update Meeting Happening October 24 at 6 p.m.
A year after Berkeley County Council approved a $500,000 EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant to fund a large-scale revitalization initiative in the St. Stephen/Russellville area, the program is making significant progress. The next community update meeting on the Brownfield Grant Program is scheduled for Tuesday, October 24, 2023, at 6 p.m. at St. Stephen Middle School, located at 225 Carolina Drive in St. Stephen. The public is invited to attend, and dinner will be provided.
This grant is part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfield Community Wide Assessment Grant Program and is helping fund environmental assessments on certain properties throughout St. Stephen. These properties have the potential to be redeveloped to provide more job opportunities and other quality of life resources for the community.
The grant already identified two such sites—the former St. Stephen High School, which closed in 1996, and the area’s former Lumber Mill, which operated as a steam-powered lumber mill from the 1930s to mid-1960s and closed around 1970.
Community engagement has been critical throughout this process, including two community meetings and the formation of an 11-member Brownfield Steering Committee, comprised of local residents. The Committee helps direct the County in the assessment of properties and establishing goals and outcomes of the grant process.
Brownfield site recommendations are still needed. Individuals may fill out a site suggestion form or an application form as a property owner.
“We are excited to update the community on the results from the St. Stephen High School assessment and Turner Mill assessment. We know these landmarks are valuable to the community and to the residents in the St. Stephen area; and we are confident this initiative, with help from our grant partners Terracon, the Asiko Group and Town of St. Stephen, will ultimately positively impact this region of Berkeley County for years to come.” -Corey McClary, Workforce Development Manager, Berkeley County Economic Development
For more information on the Brownfield Grant Program, visit berkeleymeansbusiness.com/
