The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $1 million in Brownfields grant funding to support the environmental assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of properties in Spanish Fork and Murray, Utah. The cities will each receive $500,000 to assess several priority properties that have elevated concentrations of contaminants in soil and groundwater.
The funding is part of the agency’s Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grant Programs. EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker said the grants are supporting critical cleanup and redevelopment projects in Utah. "Today’s funding will help community leaders in Murray and Spanish Fork address contamination in soil, water and outdoor spaces and create new businesses, housing and recreational opportunities," he added.
In Spanish Fork, the EPA Brownfields funding will be used to assess environmental contamination at two priority sites within the city: the Express Way Landfill and the Foundry. Mayor Mike Mendenhall expressed gratitude for the EPA's grant funding as it would allow for redevelopment plans for underutilized areas previously used industrially.
The Express Way Landfill is a 40-acre lot consisting of 13 parcels combined into one landfill site. Previous investigations identified elevated concentrations of metals such as lead, arsenic, chromium in soil, benzene and arsenic in groundwater, as well as landfill gases. The Foundry site located in the Spanish Fork Industrial Park was established in 1884 where iron and brass castings were manufactured using hazardous chemicals including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and semi-volatile compounds (SVOCs).
The City of Murray will use its share of the EPA Brownfields grant funding to assess two priority sites in its Central Business District: Creek Pocket Park and Soccer Locker. The Creek Pocket Park is a vacant residential parcel located near historic Murray smelters while Soccer Locker is a 2.78-acre lot along Little Cottonwood Creek. Previous investigations indicate high levels of arsenic and other metals, presumed to be slag and mine waste.
The EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.7 billion in Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. The program made approximately $60 million available each year before the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Thanks to President Biden’s historic investments in America through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the EPA has now increased that yearly investment by nearly 400 percent.
