The Alabama Department of Environmental Management is working closely with the City of Valley in determining the environmental cleanness of Langdale and Riverdale Mills. ADEM has previously completed a Phase I Environmental Assessment on both Mills; from July 30th to August 2nd, a Phase II Environmental Assessment was performed on both mills. A Phase I Assessment is mostly visual, looking for possible signs of contamination; a Phase II Assessment obtains soil and water samples based on the visual findings from the Phase I Assessment.
Dixie Beatty, Crystal Collins, Emmett Hampton, Antwan Parker, Scott Demick and Pam Luckie of ADEM’s Redevelopment Section took samples from sites at Langdale and Riverdale Mills and will prepare a report on the state of contamination at these sites. These studies and reports will be highly beneficial to the City in attracting developers to these sites by ensuring that they are environmentally safe. Sites that have the EPA ‘stamp of approval’ are far more attractive to possible redevelopers than sites that have not been EPA approved.
If any contamination is found, the recently awarded EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant can be used to fund cleanup planning and help in the City obtaining an EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant to do the actual cleanup of the contaminated areas. The City has contracted with MACTEC Engineering and Consulting Inc., a firm from Atlanta that specializes in the redevelopment of brownfields, to assist the City in the assessment, planning, and cleanup of brownfield sites in the City of Valley.
Below are photos taken of the ADEM team at the Langdale and Riverdale Mills.
