After the smokestacks fall: What’s next for Grainger, Lake Busbee

It’s been nearly six months since the smokestacks of the Grainger power plant were demolished in spectacular controlled explosions that could be heard across the Conway area for miles.

The stacks that marked the entrance into the city for decades took mere seconds to fall, yet the cleanup of the former industrial area is expected to take years to complete.

Local officials say they aren’t wasting any time in planning what will take its place, or how Lake Busbee across Highway 501 from the old plant can be maintained for future generations.

The Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation is reviewing several proposals by planners who are bidding to conduct a study that officials say is needed to determine the best use of the Grainger plant to bring a new business to the site.

The prospects vary widely from tourism to light industry or commercial use. Before recruitment of a new business can move forward, officials say they first need to understand what the infrastructure can handle.

“We’re very anxious to move along with the selection of a planning firm, then to see through their eyes what they envision the best uses to be,” said Conway Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy.

“We simply said we wanted it to be a good fit with downtown Conway, because it will connect with downtown,” Blain-Bellamy said.

The City of Conway is partnering with the economic development corporation, Horry County, and Santee Cooper which owns the Grainger site and Busbee Lake to explore the best use of the entire property.

Josh Kay, president of the economic development corporation, said they expect to pick a master planning consultant by August and have a study prepared by the end of the year. The budget for the study is $60,000, and all partners are chipping in to pay for it.

“They will look at the entire site, Lake Busbee, Grainger, and all of the Santee Cooper-owned property and assess that property and surrounding properties, as well as the growth and development that has happened around it,” Kay said.

Once the study is completed, all of the partners will develop a vision and a strategy of the best use of that area moving forward, Kay said.

“We will all continue to work together to (find) a long-term tenant that is complimentary and beneficial to all parties,” Kay said.

Before new development can move onto the property, Santee Cooper is paying to have ash removed from two ponds on site and the cleanup contract extends until 2023, however officials expect the task could be completed by 2020.

“It’s not going to happen overnight, by any stretch of the imagination,” Kay said.

Asked what new businesses would be suitable for that area, Kay said, “I think there’s a lot of opportunities that could go on at that site, it has some limitations but opportunities as well. To even try and speculate now would be off base.”

Blain-Bellamy says that the new entryway to Conway should be attractive to tourists, as well as an economically viable business.

“This is a great opportunity to show that Conway is more than just Highway 501,” Blain-Bellamy said.

The master plan will also examine the present infrastructure benefits and needs, including energy requirements, roads, and drainage.

“That’s what investors want to hear before putting money together for this kind of thing,” Blain-Bellamy said. “Whether it’s for retail stores, a camp for surfing, or a school, there are countless possibilities they will identify.”

Meanwhile, state health officials are reviewing a report submitted by Santee Cooper that assess the water quality and sediment in Lake Busbee, which once served as the cooling pond for the plant.

Jim Beasley, spokesman for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, said there is no time frame for the agency to complete the review.

“It does not evaluate various uses, but recommends that the pond currently can be used without any restrictions,” Beasley said.

Although the Grainger steam-electric generating plant has not been operational since 2012, Santee Cooper has been paying $100,000 a year since Grainger closed to continue pumping water into the 325 acre man-made lake.

Blain-Bellamy said the state review is “looming over us.”

“We really can’t plan anything until we know what they say. They could require we return to natural state wetlands. I can scarcely even remember what that looks like,” Blain-Bellamy said.

“Without that single, huge pronouncement on the part of DHEC as to what they will allow us to do, we just can’t plan, we don’t have any clue until we hear from them,” Blain-Bellamy said.

Mollie Gore, spokeswoman for Santee Cooper, said they will continue to pump water into the lake while stakeholders are exploring future options.

“We are just kind of maintaining it for now,” Gore said. “Long term, we do not need to be in the lake management business, that’s not what we do.”

Ideally, she said the company would like to transfer ownership of the lake, and there is no end date on when they would discontinue the water pumps.

“It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come along very often,” Gore said of the future prospects of the site. “It’s a good piece of property with good visibility, and it’s a good opportunity to do something substantial with it.”

This story was originally published July 25, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "After the smokestacks fall: What’s next for Grainger, Lake Busbee."