Last June, there was a public hearing regarding contaminants in the historically Black neighborhood of Newtown, in Greenville's Southernside community and potential plans to address the issue.

One year after the meeting, a decision has finally been made.

"We are very excited to see that the Department of Environmental Services listened to the public comments that were submitted and changed their remedy to really get closer to the comprehensive cleanup this community has been waiting for and has deserved for so many years," South Carolina Environmental Law Project Attorney Emily Poole said. "What will happen next is that the department will organize with the two responsible parties of this site, which are Duke Energy and CSX. The department is going to bring both of these parties to the table and they’re going to negotiate what’s known as a voluntary cleanup contract, and then they will create an implementation plan for the remedial action because we have the decision, but we don’t have the nuts and bolts of what will happen in year one and year two.”