Georgetown County has been awarded $500,000 in federal funds to begin a cleanup effort that would transform properties marred by environmental issues into usable community spaces. Now, it’s seeking the public’s input on sites that should be assessed for the program.
The grant funds can be used to assess sites in three communities: Georgetown, Andrews and Spring Gulley. The county will have two public meetings next week to introduce the initiative and begin gathering early community input. The meetings were initially scheduled to take place earlier this month, but had to be postponed due to Tropical Storm Debby. A decision was also made to consolidate the meetings for Georgetown and Spring Gully.
Meeting dates and locations are as follows:
- Monday, Aug. 19 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Georgetown Library Auditorium, 405 Cleland St.
- Thursday, Aug. 22 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Andrews Library, 105 Morgan Ave.
All county residents are welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be provided and children are welcome. In addition to county staff, representatives from Terracon, the county’s contractor for the project, and the Asiko Group, a consultant, will be on hand to provide information and answer questions.
The federal funding comes in the form of a Brownfields Assessment grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. These grants can be used by communities for the purpose of inventorying and assessing brownfield sites, as well as conducting planning activities, developing site-specific cleanup plans and engaging community members in the process. The county received the maximum award amount. Sites that could qualify include commercial sites contaminated with asbestos, old fuel tanks or other pollutants and hazardous substances. Those could include abandoned schools, factories and a range of other properties.
“The idea is to have community participation in deciding where we might want to focus cleanup efforts and get input on places people are aware of that could be repurposed and refurbished for the overall benefit and wellbeing of the community,” said Maureen Mulligan, an environmentalist and training coordinator in the county’s Environmental Services Division. “The cool thing about the assessment grant is it’s the first step toward potentially getting multiple millions in federal dollars for cleanups and improvements. They especially are wanting to focus on historically ignored communities. And it really encourages community buy-in, so it’s not just us coming and telling people what we want to do; it’s finding out what the interests and priorities are for the community.”
For more information, visit gtcounty.org/brownfields.