EPA Awards $4M to Brownfield Cleanup Projects in Arkansas

A Google Street View image of the former Warner Brown Hospital in El Dorado, a site selected for an EPA brownfield cleanup grant (© Google)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it’s awarding $4 million in grants to projects in Arkansas that aim to transform once-polluted, vacant and abandoned properties, known as brownfields, into community assets.

The grants are also meant to help to create jobs and spur economic revitalization in overburdened communities, the EPA said in a news release.

The Southwest Arkansas Planning and Development District will receive $2 million to clean up a wing of the former Warner Brown Hospital in El Dorado. The 2.7-acre cleanup site has been vacant since 2015 and is contaminated with heavy metals and inorganic contaminants, according to the EPA. Grant funds also will be used to develop a community involvement plan and conduct community engagement activities.

The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment will receive $1 million to develop five cleanup plans and conduct community engagement activities, the news release said. Priority sites include five small vacant and dilapidated commercial and residential buildings in downtown Earle; a former auto repair site in West Memphis; and a fire station, a former bulk oil and chemical distribution facility, and the Booker Arts Magnet School in east Little Rock.

The Pulaski County Brownfields Program will receive $1 million to help underserved areas in Pulaski County. The program has successfully made loans or subgrants leading to 19 cleanup projects that are either completed or in progress. Potential projects highlighted for use of the funding include a former hotel and job training site and the Godsey Cleaners site in North Little Rock.

Funding comes from President Joe Biden’s $1.5 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment and Southwest Arkansas Planning and Development District have impressive records of getting the most out of Brownfields funding by effectively investing in assessment and cleanup efforts to benefit both urban and rural areas,” Regional Administrator Earthea Nance said in a statement. “These historic funding amounts from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda will help revitalize more properties and clean up more neighborhoods.”