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EPA Touts Partnerships as Model for Redevelopment


By Sean Evans | October 28, 2020 at 10:50 PM EDT – Updated October 28 at 11:29 PM

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) – WTOC received an update on what is touted to become the site of a major, long-term economic driver for Savannah.

The SeaPoint Industrial Terminal Complex, which sits off East President Street, hosts more than 600 acres of develop-able land, and is projected to generate billions of dollars in annual economic impact.

WTOC toured the site today, along with the Administrator of the EPA and other local leaders.

When the last company operating at this site shut down after filing for bankruptcy in 2009, it took with it more than a thousand jobs.

It also left behind a sizable environmental cleanup.

Reed Dulany, with Dulany Industries, Inc. said “The EPA and EPD recognized that allowing an impacted site to lie fallow due to ineffective processes mired in red tape does not help the environment or the community. So instead they positively supported this new, proactive approach which has resulted in a remediated site ready for beneficial re-use, accomplished in a matter of years.”

The environmental remediation of the site is expected to be complete two years ahead of schedule, and two million dollars under budget.

It’s an accomplishment Dulany credits to the partnership between environmental regulatory agencies, and private industry, that will ultimately benefit the area with manufacturing and logistics jobs.

Dulany said, “What we need is more high-wage jobs, which generally come with the manufacturing sector.”

Andrew Wheeler, Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, toured the site today and said what’s been accomplished could be a model for other industrial complexes around the country.

“This was certainly an example of local government working with the developer here, the state and the EPA to an extent, but a large part is my understanding was the state…to get this site redeveloped and revitalized and ready to support new jobs in the economy,” said Administrator Wheeler.

The cost to clean up the site and prepare it for development is estimated to be around 36 million dollars.