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New Greenville park to flow from oil spill funds

Recreation area to be created in Cedar Falls, New Harrison Bridge Road area

By Eric Connor • STAFF WRITER • January 24, 2009

Millions of dollars in settlement money from a major oil spill in the Reedy River more than a decade ago will help fund an expansive new park along the river in the southern part of Greenville County, officials announced Friday.

The county will use $2.7 million set aside in the South Carolina Mitigation Trust Fund supplied from Colonial Pipeline Co.'s $7 million fine levied in 1999.

The money will go to buy 87 acres at the historic Cedar Falls area and another 17.5 acres at New Harrison Bridge Road along where the river widens downstream and courses through picturesque rural landscapes, state Rep. Eric Bedingfield said during a ceremony Friday above Cedar Falls.

The project will provide for nature trails, picnic areas and recreational access to the river from a site known for its historic dam that provided electricity to the Fork Shoals mill, a school and a doctor's office.

Most of 2009 will be spent planning the development, but work will begin in time for an expected completion in spring 2010, said Gene Smith, the county recreation district's executive director.

The New Harrison Bridge Road site will provide an access point for kayakers to begin a scenic 41/2-hour float down the Reedy, Smith said.

"The highlight of the trip is arrival at the Cedar Falls dam -- off State 418 in the Fork Shoals area -- where the river widens to over 200 feet and cascades over rocks, creating significant rapids," Smith said.

The $2.7 million is left over from a record $7 million fine levied against Colonial following a huge oil spill in 1996 that left 35,000 fish dead and damaged 23 miles of the river south of downtown.

In February 1999, Colonial pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in the spill that dumped almost 1 million gallons of oil into the Reedy River, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The spill was the sixth-largest in the United States at the time, the Justice Department said.

In addition to the fish kill, the spill led to the demise of other wildlife such as beavers, muskrats and turtles.

Colonial pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of violating the Clean Water Act "when it failed to exercise reasonable care leading to the rupture of its pipeline where it crosses the Reedy River near Simpsonville," the Justice Department said.

The $7 million fine included money spent on legal fees, baseline studies of the Reedy, wood duck boxes and environmental education programs at Clemson University, county officials said.

The remaining $4 million has been kept aside for six years for the restoration of the Reedy watershed in southern Greenville County and northern Laurens County. On Friday, Bedingfield presented an oversized ceremonial check pledging the first $1.6 million of the $2.7 million for the project.

More announcements on the use of the remainder of the funds will be made later, he said.

This article originally appeared in The Greenville News (http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20090124/NEWS01/901240325)

Reedy Oil Spill Money Will Pay For New Park

POSTED: 2:17 pm EST January 23, 2009

UPDATED: 5:02 pm EST January 23, 2009

FOUNTAIN INN, S.C. -- A new park in Greenville County will be paid for with money left over from the cleanup of a huge fuel spill more than a decade ago.

The Greenville County Recreation District got $2.7 million from the state Department of Natural Resources to develop the park along the Reedy River at Cedar Falls.

The new park will Located along Cedar Falls Road, off Highway 418.

Cedar Falls is considered to be one of the most geologically significant points on the river, that begins north of Travelers Rest and runs to Lake Greenwood.

The site includes an old dam that impounded water to generate electric power for the Fork Shoals textile mill and other buildings.

Executive Director Gene Smith said that the Recreation District will purchase 87 acres at Cedar Falls and another 17.5 acres at New Harrison Bridge Rd.

Smith said that the New Harrison Bridge Road land will offer parking and access to the river. "Kayakers and canoers may put in at the New Harrison site for a scenic 4½ hour float down the Reedy," he said. "The highlight of the trip is arrival at the Cedar Falls dam where the river widens to over 200 feet and cascades over rocks creating significant rapids."

The money is the remaining funds from a clean-up effort that followed the massive June 1996 diesel fuel spill that occurred when the Colonial Oil pipeline ruptured where it crosses the river.

More than 1 million gallons of the neon green fuel poured into the river.

The spill was the largest in South Carolina's history and fouled 23 miles of the river, killing tens of thousands of fish.

After an investigation, investigators determined that Colonial knew the pipeline was in danger of such a rupture, but did not do enough to prevent it. The company was fined $34 million, $7 million of which was to be used for remediation.

A master plan for the park includes walking trails along the river, picnic groves, and landscaping with native plants.

This article originally appeared on WYFF4.com (http://www.wyff4.com/news/18550149/detail.html)

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