COASTAL OBSERVER

A New Jersey firm emerged last week as the prospective buyer for the Liberty Steel mill in Georgetown, and a possible contender for the nearby International Paper mill, which is also closed.

Warren Waters, founder of River Development Equities, is the managing member of Liberty River LLC, which applied last year to the state Department of Environmental Services for a “voluntary cleanup contract” for the steel mill. The agency is now taking public comments on the application.

Local and state officials said the steel mill buyer was among those who want to buy the paper mill property, and was concerned about a competing buyer who wanted to restart the paper mill’s power plant to generate power using biomass. Restarting the power plant, they said, would impact plans to redevelop the steel mill for a mix of light industrial, commercial and residential development.

State Rep. Lee Hewitt, who was among those who met with the steel mill buyer, said he was not able to confirm that Waters was that buyer.

Liberty River plans toacquire the steel mill site and “redevelop it with light, clean manufacturing, commercial/retail, multi-family residential, park/green space and waterfront amenities (boardwalk and/or marina),” according the contract.

The contract, known as a VCC, will allow Liberty River to clean up contamination from generations of industrial use without assuming liability for that contamination. How the property can be redeveloped will depend on the results of the cleanup.

Georgetown County has a VCC for property at the former state port, which sits between the steel mill and paper mill properties. It acquired the property from the state in 2023 in a deal put together by Hewitt. A VCC will also be needed for the IP property before it can be redeveloped.

Hewitt said he was told there were close to 40 offers submitted for the IP site that were narrowed down to five or six.

“I would expect an announcement soon,” he said.

He hasn’t spoken with staff at the Department of Environmental Service about VCC applications for the paper mill. “They’re limited as to what they can tell me,” he said.

Whoever ends up with the two mills sites, Hewitt said they need to be part of a development plan with the county-owned port property.

“To me, it makes no sense in three different people running in three different directions,” he said.

The county last year issued a request for qualifications from planning and real estate development companies to create a master plan for the port property. It is still reviewing those proposals.

Hewitt said he has told county officials that he thinks that master plan for the port is premature.

“It makes the most sense to sit back and say this needs to be one development, one plan,” he said.

The VCC for the steel mill lays out the challenges of cleaning up a site that has been in industrial use since the early 20th century. It cites a wide variety of contaminants known or likely to be on or under the 66-acre waterfront site.

The contract also notes that some contaminants may have entered the site from adjacent properties.

“Like a lot of stuff, it flows downhill,” Hewitt said. “To clean it up you have to start at the top.”

Another reason for a single development plan, he added.

Environmental Services will take comments on the VCC through Feb. 6 at des.sc.gov.