Update - May 17, 2024

Duke Energy submitted the Revised Focused Feasibility Study in October 2023, DHEC approved the report in February 2024. DHEC uses EPA guidance to evaluate and compare cleanup alternatives. The criteria used in the evaluation process are protection of human health and the environment; compliance with regulatory standards; long-term and short- term effectiveness; reduction of contaminant toxicity, mobility and volume through treatment; implementability; and costs. The final criteria is community acceptance, which will be evaluated with DHEC’s Proposed Plan Public meeting and public comment period.  

DHEC’s Preferred Cleanup Alternative

The Focused Feasibility Study evaluated five (5) remedial alternatives. Two (2) were passive remedies and included a no action and monitored natural attenuation alternative. The no action alternative is included in every Focused Feasibility Study and used as a baseline for the other alternatives. The Focused Feasibility Study contained three (3) active remedies which all involve varying amounts of excavation and removal along with monitored natural attenuation and land use controls.  

DHEC’s Preferred Cleanup Alternative is Alternative 5: Excavation and Complete Removal of the Vaughn Landfill, Monitored Natural Attenuation, and Land Use Controls.

This option includes:

• Excavation of the Vaughn Construction and Debris Landfill
• Excavation of impacted sediments on the parcels south of Bramlett Road and the Legacy School Property
• Monitored Natural Attenuation and Land Use Controls will be utilized to restrict development and groundwater use

DHEC is presenting its Proposed Plan for the CSXT Bramlett site in a public meeting on June 6, 2024, at the Mountain View Baptist Church at 111 Cagle Street in Greenville, SC. The meeting will also be broadcast for those who wish to attend virtually. A link will be available on DHEC’s Webpage prior to the meeting. The proposed plan is available in the Historical Documents below for your review along with all the documents that were used to get to this decision.  

DHEC will accept written comments on the Proposed Plan during a public comment period which will run from June 6, 2024, until August 6, 2024. The Department may modify the Preferred Alternative or select another response action presented in the Proposed Plan based on new information or public comments. Therefore, the public is encouraged to review and comment on all the alternatives presented in the Proposed Plan.

• Proposed Plan
• Fact Sheet

Please submit your written comments to:

Greg Cassidy, Project Manager
DHEC’s Bureau of Land & Waste Management
2600 Bull Street
Columbia, SC 29201
cassidga@dhec.sc.gov

Overview

The CSXT Bramlett Road Site (Site) consists of five parcels in Greenville, South Carolina, including the former location of a Duke Power Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP), which covers 3.69 acres and is located at 400 South Bramlett Road, and a seven-acre unpermitted construction and demolition debris landfill (a/k/a Vaughn Landfill) downgradient of the former MGP property. The current owner of the landfill, the MGP, and other three parcels is CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT).

In 1917, Southern Public Utilities originally developed the manufactured gas plant. Ownership of the MGP transferred to Duke Power Company in 1939. The plant ceased operation in 1951 and the above-ground structures were demolished in the late 1950s. In 1997, Duke Power Company changed its name to Duke Energy Corporation, in September 2006, converted to Duke Power Company, LLC, and in October of 2006, changed its name to Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC. (hereinafter generally referred to as "Duke")

Manufactured gas was the predecessor to natural gas and was used to provide gas for lighting, heating, and cooking for the City of Greenville. The Duke Power MGP produced gas using the coal gasification process. This process resulted in the creation of a tar-like waste material that was often discharged to nearby ditches or surface water bodies. Coal tar waste from the Duke Power MGP was discharged into several ditches and eventually migrated across Bramlett Road to a property where, in 1988, an unpermitted landfill was located on the property 800 feet west of the intersection of Bramlett Road and West Washington Street, on the south side of Bramlett Road. The landfill is approximately six feet in depth and covers approximately seven acres. Waste from the MGP is present beneath the landfill.

Assessments

Duke conducted several investigations to assess the nature and extent of contamination at the Site. In 2002, Duke removed 61,000 tons of material from the former MGP property and replaced it with clean soil. Soil was excavated to a depth of three to six feet across the majority of the former MGP property.

Voluntary Cleanup Contract

On July 29, 2016, Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC (Duke) entered into Voluntary Cleanup Contract 16-5857-RP (VCC) with DHEC. Under the VCC, Duke will conduct an environment investigation of the Site and will evaluate alternatives for addressing the remaining contamination. The Groundwater Remedial Investigation began in 2017. Following that initial investigation, it was determined that additional investigation was needed. In 2018, an Addendum to the Groundwater Remedial Investigation was approved and completed. Data from the Addendum showed that a third phase of Groundwater Remedial Investigation was necessary. An additional Remedial Investigation Work Plan Addendum was submitted and approved by DHEC in July 2019. Duke Energy submitted the Remedial Investigation Report in June 2020.  DHEC approved the Remedial Investigation Report in September 2020.  

It was determined that additional investigation was needed to evaluate the former stormwater conveyance ditches. Duke Energy submitted a Remedial Investigation Work Plan Addendum in September 2020 which was approved by DHEC. Along with the additional remedial investigation work, Duke submitted plans to conduct aquifer performance testing (November 2020), forensic analysis of non-aqueous phase liquids in sediment and soil samples (December 2020), and to provide interim best management practices in the ditches and the outfall (March 2021).  Duke Energy submitted the Remedial Investigation Report Addendum in late July 2021. The Remedial Investigation Report Addendum was approved by DHEC in January 2022. Duke Energy submitted a Feasibility Study Work Plan in August 2022. The Feasibility Study Work Plan was approved in November 2022.  

Historical Documents

Below are historical documents relating to the previous investigations of the Site. These documents include work plans, investigation activities, remedial action plans, and other key documents. If you are interested in documents that appear on the Index but are not listed below, please contact the Department.

Mailing List

Anyone interested in receiving updates may contact Elisa Vincent at 803-898-0840 or via email Elisa.Vincent@des.sc.gov . If you have received information directly from DHEC, you are already on the Site's mailing list.