Albamarl defers Richburg lithium megaplex; county says grant and fee-in-lieu request withdrawn

In an update to Chester County Council, the county administrator reported that Albamarl has deferred spending on its planned 1.3 billion-dollar lithium hydroxide processing facility in Richburg and has requested termination of the related state rural infrastructure grant and the county fee-in-lieu agreement.

Administrator Mr. Chester said the company purchased a roughly 700-acre site and completed stream-mitigation work but "did not break ground." Reading from a March 6 letter from Albamarl's executive vice president Eric Norris, he said the company "continue[s] to defer spending on their planned Richburg Megaplex lithium conversion facility in Chester, South Carolina" and has asked South Carolina Commerce to terminate the grant and the fee-in-lieu agreement.

County staff told council that because Albamarl never began construction, the company had not received state grant funds and the county is not at risk of being required to repay or claw back grant dollars. Mr. Chester said that if the project returns in the future it would be treated as a new investment opportunity and require renegotiation of any agreements, and that the county could approach the owner about selling the site if Albamarl chooses not to proceed.

Council asked about tax status if the fee-in-lieu was terminated. Mr. Long said the property had been rezoned to ID3 (from ID2) to support Albamarl's operation and that, so long as the company owns the site, it would pay commercial property taxes.

The council accepted the information; no formal action on the Albamarl matter was taken at the meeting.