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Administrator: grant-funded Phase II Brownfield assessment, landfill expansion permit approved; winter-storm response and landfill fire addressed
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Summary
County Administrator Brian Hester told the Council the Saluda/Hudson corner lot will receive a grant-funded Phase II Brownfield assessment in March 2026, the county’s C&D landfill expansion permit was approved (extending capacity an estimated 30–40 years), and staff successfully responded to winter storms and a subsequent landfill fire that briefly suspended C&D service.
County Administrator Brian Hester reported several operational and environmental updates during the Feb. 2 Chester County Council meeting.
Hester said a Phase I Brownfield assessment of the county-owned lot at Saluda and Hudson streets identified recognized environmental conditions consistent with the site’s history as a former filling station. The County has since secured grant funding for a Phase II site assessment scheduled for March 2026; that assessment will determine any needed remediation, inform future decisions about parking, building, or sale of the parcel, and position the County to apply for remediation grants if necessary. Hester thanked the Council of Governments and Brownfield program manager Tyler Lewis for assistance.
Hester also announced that the county’s construction-and-demolition (C&D) landfill expansion permit was approved, extending the facility’s capacity by an estimated 30–40 years. He credited Public Works Director Devin Bagley and Supervisor Thomas Martin for their work on the permit application and approval process.
On emergency operations, Hester reviewed Chester County’s coordinated response to recent winter storms. He said early planning and EOC operations, plus partnerships with the sheriff’s office, fire, EMS, DOT, DSS, MUSC, the Red Cross and state agencies, supported successful warming-station operations at Chester Middle School and the Great Falls War Memorial. Hester described a landfill fire discovered after the storm, likely caused by ice shifting cover and exposing buried waste; staff and contractor J&J Excavating & Grading (Joe Fleming) mounted a rapid suppression effort that required a brief suspension of curbside C&D service.
Hester closed by thanking staff for their work and noting the county’s readiness for likely near-term weather.
(Report based on Administrator Brian Hester’s remarks recorded in the Feb. 2, 2026 meeting minutes.)