ROCK HILL, S.C. — Riverwalk is the crown jewel of Rock Hill for many of its residents.
It includes a massive, 600-plus acre development on the banks of the Catawba River, which features hundreds of new homes, restaurants and an outdoors sports theme that is drawing national attention for its unique mix of work and play.
The sprawling new landscape was built on the site of an old chemical plant.
Eyewitness News learned the environmental cleanup is ongoing. There are still toxic chemicals that must be monitored and tested.
Construction on the upscale community started a decade ago when the Assured Group, known as the Greens of Rock Hill, bought the property at Celanese and Cherry roads, and development will likely continue for at least another decade.
The attraction of living near the Riverwalk isn't hard to see.
Sue Bockelman, who moved from the SouthPark area in Charlotte two years ago, was sold on the location when she saw the river.
"I kayak on the river. I walk it,” she said. “Where I lived before, you never looked anyone in the eye. Here, you can't help but look people in the eye. Everyone is so friendly.”
Bockelman said her riverfront view never gets old, but she did have concerns and questions before she moved in about the old chemical plant that once was in its place.
“Sure, I did,” she said. “What was here? What did they do? How did they dispose of it? What was the issue with the water?"
From 1947 to 2005, the Celanese Celriver plant loomed large over Rock Hill, employing more than 2,000 people, making filament used in clothing.
The sprawling complex sat on 1,100 acres.
Mack Bailey, who worked for Celanese for 25 years, said he’s amazed at what the development has become.
"What better could you do with 1,100 acres, than what they're doing now with Riverwalk?" Bailey said.
Riverwalk has added a new dimension to Rock Hill.
Where smokestacks once stood puffing into the air now sits a velodrome bike track, an Olympic-caliber BMX course, plus luxury homes, apartments and shops.
The neighborhood has its own YMCA, athletic fields, mountain bike trails, a riverside walking path and office space.
All that's left of the former plant is the pump house that pulled millions of gallons of water a day from the river.
That’s now an upscale restaurant of the same name. There's also the plant water tower, which sports a new logo.
The Assured Group spent $40 million to clean up the Environmental Protection Agency’s designated Brownfield, in a partnership with the city of Rock Hill.
The developer specializes in the cleanup and restoration of environmentally damaged properties.
It hasn't all been smooth. Just months ago, a crew building a road accidentally dug into a long-buried landfill near some new homes that hold construction debris, and asbestos was exposed and found.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control was called in, the EPA was notified, and after soil and water testing at nearby homes, no additional hazards were found.
The site was recovered with dirt and the case was closed in mid-February.
At that time, Riverwalk developer Mark Mather spoke to Channel 9 about the asbestos incident.
He agreed to talk to Channel 9 again for this story but was not available after several attempts to set up an interview over several weeks.
Instead, Channel 9 took the issues to David Scaturo, who heads the waste management division at the DHEC in Columbia, South Carolina.
"The concern is getting the site redeveloped and cleaned up at the same time. It can be very challenging," Scaturo said.
Channel 9 filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get the permit granted to the developers at Riverwalk in 2010.
The goal was to learn what potentially hazardous materials are still found on the property and what the state requires of the developer.
The 2010 permit, which is good for 10 years, lists 26 different areas where hazardous chemicals were either used, stored or possibly spilled.
The following is that list of documents released by DHEC:
Most are called "Solid Waste Management Units" and were located across the entire property, before it was cleaned up.
- Closed chemical holding pond
- Waste Acid Dope disposal areas
- Closed plant landfills
- Wastewater treatment plants
- Hazardous waste drum storage area
- Fly ash disposal area and setting pond
- Underground chemical sewers
- Fire school runoff pond
- PBI holding tanks
- Chemical company tank farm
- Diesel sump area
- Diesel offloading area
- Track pan drain line
- Ketene area diesel tank
- Benzene UST area
- Boiler house diesel tank area
- Drum area one and two
Four others are listed by DHEC as “areas of concern,” meaning they were discovered after further inspection.
They include:
- Acetone flow through tanks
- AR building
- PCE area
- Coal Piles
The permit says 22 of those areas were cleaned up, leaving four others that are still a concern.
"There's some fenced off areas,” Scaturo said. “There's reporting required. There's inspections required."
All of the contaminated soil on the property has long been hauled off and disposed of.
The remaining concern involves groundwater contamination leftover from decades of chemicals used in the plant.
Twice a year, the developer must take water samples from several wells and send the results to the state. Those wells show levels of benzene, acetic acid magnesium sulfate, methylene chloride and other chemicals still above federal safety standards.
DHEC officials said those levels are dropping naturally over time and also because of ongoing treatment programs the developer oversees.
The permit for the development expires in 2020, but due to ongoing concerns about hazardous waste, DHEC officials told Channel 9 that cleanup work isn't done.
"They'll have to renew the permit and continue to abide by it," Scaturo said.
There are also several landfills on the property beside the C&D landfill where the asbestos was found last fall.
Soccer fields now sit atop a former fly ash landfill. That, and other landfills on site, are safe, DHEC officials said, as long as they are not disturbed, and what's buried there, exposed to the air.
Near the middle of the complex, there's now a monument to Celanese workers near where the plant stood.
It celebrates the thousands who worked there.
Bailey said it was more than a job, it was the lifeblood of the community, a place that brought people from everywhere and built a family.
Bailey said employees were conscious and concerned about pollution, as was the company.
"Whenever any science showed a possible health threat, Celanese would respond and change our processes to meet new standards," Bailey said. "But you know, 1950s science is nothing like the science of today."
When foreign competition and declining demand for its products drove Celanese to shut down, no one expected a new vision would arrive so quickly and become Riverwalk.
DHEC officials said there is no direct threat to human health at Riverwalk.
The developer sends in environmental reports, and DHEC still does routine on-site inspections, checking groundwater and making sure landfills remain covered.
For most residents, what’s out of sight is also long out of mind.
Barbara Caufaglione, a New York transplant, was the first person to buy a home in Riverwalk six years ago.
"None of that was here. None," said Caufaglione, who was waving her arm out toward some apartments under construction. "It was like going into a frontier."
Caufaglione said everyone she's met is not local to Rock Hill or even South Carolina, and all of her neighbors moved from up north, drawn by lower taxes, the river and the closeness of everything.
Caufaglione knew what was there before her home, but she never worries about it.
"I never thought about it,” she said. “As long as I'm right down here by that river, I don't care.”