Industrial park work halted

COLUMBIA -- Work on the 500-acre Saxe Gotha Industrial Park on U.S. Interstate 77 in Lexington County has been halted for several months because the contractor mistakenly cut a road bed through wetlands. The U.S. Corps of Engineers says the county and the contractor self-reported the incident, which occurred in August.

The county will be required to preserve 13 acres of wetlands within the park to mitigate the three-tenths of an acre disturbed.

"It was an honest mistake," said Brice McKoy, the Army Corps' Columbia branch chief. "They've been more than willing to work with us."

The sprawling park is south of I-77 and east of I-26. Workers for Hunter Construction excavated the wetlands while extending 12th Street south through the tract.

The park has not lost any potential tenants because of the work stoppage, officials said, but it's unclear when work can resume. The park is about four months away from completion.

Lexington County Council borrowed about $13 million to build the park. It is Lexington's first county-owned industrial park. The Lexington County Industrial Park on Charleston Highway is owned by the private Miller-Valentine Group.

In 2007, the county issued general obligation bonds to buy the land and build the park. It has access to the two interstates and a CSX rail line.

Lexington County economic development chairman Bill Banning said officials hope to attract a big-hitting industry like Boeing.

"I'd love to see some high-tech, high-dollar industries," he said. "But we're not fixed on any single industry."

In addition to preserving 13 acres, the corps will require the county and the contractor to conduct seminars on wetlands preservation for other governments and contractors.

Once the remediation plan is accepted, work can resume, McKoy said. He did not offer a timetable.

Banning said that once the county gets a new work permit for the road, the park should be ready in about 13 weeks.

Work on a water and sewer system continued, he said.

Already, the park hosts the South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. training facility.