Excerpt from Coastal Review Online, April 12, 2018. Read the full article here.
Residents here are hoping to turn an old wood treatment plant site into one that will honor the townspeople’s heritage, bring in jobs and boost the local tax base.
After months of discussions and meetings, residents, with the guidance of federal and state officials, have drafted four redevelopment concepts for the 245-acre former Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. treatment plant.
Though each concept is slightly different, they include common themes.
“One of them is a river walk,” said Richard Elliott, the Multistate Environmental Response Trust project manager of the federally designated Superfund site. “All of them have some type of ferry access. There’s a viewing platform and a kayak launch. All of them have some element of a park-type setting with walking and biking trails.”
There’s also space for a heritage center, a rice field where visitors could see how the historically significant commodity here is grown, light industrial and commercial use.
Residents who attended a quarterly meeting hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, Tuesday night were urged to stay open-minded about the concepts.
EPA remedial project manager Erik Spalvins explained that market conditions may change over the time it will take to get some portions of the land ready for reuse. By that time, the community’s priorities may change, he said.
“Don’t be too fixated and think these are set in stone,” Spalvins said.