East Arkansas Planning and Development District receives EPA grants

The award is part of $54.5 million EPA is distributing to 145 communities nationwide to assess and clean up underutilized properties while protecting public health and the environment, according to EAPDD.

EAPDD will receive two assessment grants targeting 12 counties in eastern Arkansas. A community-wide hazardous substances grant of $200,000 will be used to conduct Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments. A $100,000 grant for petroleum will also be used for similar site assessments. Both grants will also be used to update the area’s Brownfields inventory, prioritize Brownfields sites, prepare cleanup and reuse plans, and support community outreach activities.

“This grant affords us an unparalleled opportunity to aid communities in addressing the unique Brownfield challenges that face our region,” EAPDD District Executive Director Melissa Rivers. said. “It will position our region to compete in our global economy and support an environment fostering job growth and economic development. We are excited to work with our communities and EPA to see the project through to fruition.”

Brownsfield properties are defined by the EPA as real properties that have the presence of a polluntant that can impact the redevelopment or reuse of that property. An example might be a former gas station that has chemicals in the ground that need to be removed.

EAPDD plans to use the assessments completed through the course of this grant to prepare communities to a build upon an existing Brownfield inventory and create redevelopment plans for properties once they have undergone their assessments. EAPDD began its effort to identify and clean-up Brownfield properties in 2012 when regional leaders identified reducing blighted properties as a part of their regional strategic plan. Since then EAPDD has completed Phase I assessments on two properties, one in Peach Orchard and the other in Piggott, according to EAPDD.

The Brownfields Program targets communities that are economically disadvantaged and provides funding and assistance to transform contaminated sites into assets that can generate jobs and spur economic growth. A study analyzing 48 Brownfields sites found that an estimated up to $97 million in additional tax revenue was generated for local governments in a single year after cleanup, according to the EPA. This is two-to-seven times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of these Brownfield sites. Another study found that property values of homes located near Brownfields sites that are cleaned up increased between up to 15% cost cleanup.