Clariant Corp. received a certificate of recognition from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 for the company’s role in remediating and redeveloping a former Superfund site that it purchased in the 1980s.
The 667-acre property, along the Catawba River, is being redeveloped by Forsite Development Inc. into ReVenture Park, an eco-industrial energy park.
"Clariant Corp. invested more than US $40 million in a multi-year effort to remediate environmental contamination resulting from decades of industrial use," said Ken Golder, president and CEO of Clariant Corp., U.S. affiliate of Clariant AG. "When Clariant ceased production at this site in 2005, the company envisioned it repurposed in the future to create further economic development for the community."
Site projects at ReVenture Park include a large conservation easement, wildlife habitat projects, stream restoration and a trail system connecting the regional Carolina Thread Trail across the site to the nearby U.S. National Whitewater Center, according to a U.S. EPA announcement.
Clariant Corp. was recognized in 2012 by the Catawba Lands Conservancy for its role in designating a conservation easement at the site of more than 100 acres of ecologically valuable lands along Long Creek. Golder said that Clariant Corp. and Forsite Development share a vision for “economic and environmentally sustainable reuse” of the land, and he underscored EPA’s statement that ReVenture Park “serves as a national model for innovative redevelopment.“