For the last seven years, a 58-acre site that once housed Atlantic Wood Industries has remained vacant and fallen into disrepair. The Savannah Morning News reports that the site was once the home of a wood treatment facility for several decades before the business closed its doors.
Since 2007, ground contamination and environmental hazards have complicated redevelopment efforts. Years of wood treatment operations left both creosote and pentachlorophenol (PCP) in the soil, which requires a multi-step remediation process.
First, a clean soil cover needed to be installed, followed by a monitoring system for groundwater and finally the construction of a sheet pile on the riverfront edge of the property to prevent creosote migration into the river.
The property boasts a desirable location in the Port of Savannah, close to the downtown center. Complete with a deep water port, a rail spur and close access to 1-95, the property is ideal for future industrial or commercial redevelopment. A press release also notes that the property is located next to Georgia Ports Authority's Garden City Terminal, the fastest-growing container port in the country.
"Our acquisition and environmental liability assumption of this large deep-water port is the first step to repurposing this property and moving it back into productive use – the Savannah market is already in a growth phase and we are eager to see the environmental and economic benefits this transaction brings to the area," Mark Hinds, Executive Vice President of New Business Development at Environmental Liability Transfer, Inc., who purchased the property, was quoted as saying in the release.
Multiple studies have shown that the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield sites boost the economy, improve property values and stimulate job growth. Environmental consultants can provide the expertise to return land to usable condition in a cost-effective and timely manner.