Troutman Pepper partners Karlie Clemons Webb and Larry E. Gramlich represented Organic Capital Fund, LLC (OCF) in the acquisition of approximately 7,800 acres of land from Bayer CropScience in Woodbine, Camden County, Georgia. The land was previously used for various industrial purposes. As part of the acquisition, OCF agreed to bring the property into compliance with applicable environmental laws for non-residential property. As a mechanism to achieve environmental compliance, OCF would investigate and remediate 887 acres (upland) of the site.
Troutman Pepper worked closely with Leonard Diprima of United Consulting, the technical experts advising OCF on appropriate sampling and remediation and interfacing with Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division, to develop an environmental strategy to assess and achieve environmental compliance for the property. A key piece of this strategy was to enroll approximately 887 acres into the Georgia EPD Brownfields Program.
The Georgia Brownfield Program provides a prospective purchaser with liability protection from lawsuits arising from prior environmental impacts at the site. In exchange for liability protection, the prospective purchaser must investigate soil and groundwater and remediate soil to meet the state’s risk reduction standards.
On September 8, 2023, the Georgia Environmental Protection Branch issued the final Brownfield Limitation of Liability, noting the site’s compliance with non-residential soil risk reduction standards. David Cole, VP NAI Brannen Goddard, will manage the marketing of the sale of the property for redevelopment.