The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced $4 million in grants to help redevelop brownfields in central and southern Arkansas.
According to a press release from the EPA, the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment and the Southwest Arkansas Planning and Development District are the recipients of over $3 million in grant funds. An additional $1 million will go to the Pulaski County Brownfields Program, which uses Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) grants to fund community-led cleanups in Pulaski County.
The money comes from the EPA’s Brownfields Program, which began in 1995.
The Biden Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funneled an extra $1.5 billion into the program. The EPA says this investment allowed the funding cap for Multipurpose Assessment and Cleanup (MAC) Grants to rise from $500,000 to $5 million for each award.
Prior to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the program provided around $60 million to communities per year.
One example of a Brownfield transformation is the former site of Conway Scrap Metal in Faulkner County. The salvage yard was closed in 2014, according to a report from the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment, but was re-developed into a community greenspace near downtown Conway in 2021. The process involved a remediation period that included removing concrete slabs and impacted dirt before refilling the site with soil.
The site, now called Markham Square, serves as a watershed to absorb and filter polluted stormwater. It also hosts pollinator-friendly native plants and has seating and play areas for families.
