Colonial Pipeline fine to buy new park for Greenville County, S.C.

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Millions of dollars in settlement money from a major oil spill in the Reedy River more than a decade ago will help fund an expansive new park along the river in the southern part of Greenville County, officials announced on Jan. 23.
The county will use $2.7 million set aside in the South Carolina Mitigation Trust Fund supplied from the Colonial Pipeline Company’s $7 million fine levied in 1999.
The money will go to buy 87 acres at the historic Cedar Falls area and another 17.5 acres at New Harrison Bridge Road where the river widens downstream and courses through picturesque rural landscapes, state Rep. Eric Bedingfield said during a ceremony above Cedar Falls.
The project will provide for nature trails, picnic areas and recreational access to the river from a site known for its historic dam that provided electricity to the Fork Shoals mill, a school and a doctor’s office.
Most of 2009 will be spent planning the development, but work will begin in time for an expected completion in spring 2010, said Gene Smith, the county recreation district’s executive director.