City considers pursuing grants

The city of El Dorado has been encouraged to pursue federal grants that are available to identify and assess brownfield sites, and the El Dorado Works Board has agreed to meet with city officials and other civic leaders to determine if the grant program would benefit the community.

Jere “Trey” Hess, of PPM Consultants, Inc. — an environmental science and engineering consulting firm based in Monroe, Louisiana, — recently spoke to the EWB about the grants, saying that brownfields could hinder economic development opportunities.

Hess, retired Chief of the Groundwater Assessment and Remediation Division for the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, has been director of Brownfields and Economic Development in

PPM’s Jackson, Mississippi, office since 2016.

A brownfield is a real property for which “expansion, redevelopment or reuse” may be complicated by “the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant.”

During a regular EWB meeting on June 12, Hess told board members that the Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Program offers several types of grants to assist communities in identifying, assessing and cleaning up brownfield sites.,

The grants are also used to provide job and environmental training to residents of brownfield communities.

Brownfields differ from Superfund sites in that brownfields do not pose serious health or environmental threats but mainly provide hurdles for redevelopment/economic development for communities, Hess explained.

He said some brownfield sites are industrial, but the majority are smaller sites, such as vacant lots or sites for former gasoline stations or dry cleaning businesses.

Grant program

Hess discussed the types of grants that are available through the EPA Brownfields Program.

One such grant is an Assessment Grant, which provides funding for brownfields inventories (compiling a list), characterizing sites (determining past use), assessments, conducting cleanup and redevelopment planning, and informing and engaging the community.

Eligible entities may also apply for a CommunityWide Grant if a specific brownfield site has not been identified or if the assessment will address more than one site within the community.

For site-specific proposals, applicants may apply for a grant of up to $200,000 to assess a brownfield that is contaminated by hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants, including substances that are co-mingled with petroleum, or to assess a site that is contaminated by petroleum.

In each case, applicants may seek a waiver on the $200,000 maximum and request up to $350,000.

‘One of our biggest clients’

Hess said PPM has assisted communities in Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and other states in securing the EPA grants and working on redevelopment projects for brownfield sites.

Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas are part of EPA’s south central region, or Region 6, and Hess said few communities in the region are going after the grants in the Brownfields Program.

“Arkansas has won one or two grants in the past several years, and maybe there is one application a year from Arkansas,” Hess told the EWB members.

Hess said he is traveling to communities in Arkansas and Louisiana to educate them about the grant program and to encourage them to apply.

He said was led to El Dorado after inquiring about PPM’s biggest clients and learning that Murphy Oil is one of PPM’s top customers.

The firm specializes in soil and groundwater assessment and remediation for the petroleum marketing industry and offers a full range of services include a full range of air, water and waste compliance consulting.

Hess cited the development of Murphy Arts District and other major projects in El Dorado, including plans by the Arkansas Department of Transportation to widen Hillsboro/U.S. 82B through El Dorado, noting the presence of brownfields could affect the development of those projects.

EWB member George Calloway Jr. said there are several brownfields along Hillsboro, and he and Reynolds noted two such sites that formerly served as gas stations on the north side of the Hillsboro/West Avenue (U.S. 167B) intersection.

“It could be a potential economic development block. Hillsboro is a Cadillac, but you need to check under the hood of that Cadillac,” Hess said, adding that once the state acquires properties for the highway improvement project, the Hillsboro corridor will be prime real estate for redevelopment.

Identifying a brownfield site does not mean that the property is contaminated with hazardous substances, Hess said, reiterating that brownfields can still pose challenges for economic development, however.

He referred back to the EPA grants.

“If they do find contamination, it’s not a ‘gotcha program’. We can develop a cost-effective way to clean it up,” he said. “Knowing that is the biggest hurdle. If someone wants to come up with a business plan, they can figure in those costs.”

He also suggested that if the city chooses to engage in the grant program, city officials can send out Requests for Qualifications to solicit submissions from different consultants that perform environmental services and assist in pursuing the EPA grants.

Skepticism

Hess’s presentation was met with some skepticism.

Robert Reynolds, chairman of the EWB, recalled a past project for which the community sought EPA funding, namely, conservation efforts by Union County Water Board to save the Sparta Aquifer, the area’s primary source of drinking water.

Years ago, the board and other entities in south Arkansas and north Louisiana worked to preserve the Sparta, whose levels were declining, by developing ideas — including the Ouachita River water intake facility that serves area industries — to lessen the daily draw on the aquifer and to help it recover.

Reynolds told Hess that the EPA awarded a $1 million grant for a project to monitor Sparta activity, and the agency later took 30 percent of the grant to cover administrative costs.

“Those funds were for a project we figured would cost $1 million. Our experience with the EPA has not been positive … The EPA is not what I would call a trustworthy partner,” Reynolds said.

He said the incident occurred 10 - 15 years ago.

Reynolds also pointed to comments he said were made by a former EPA Region 6 official that did not seem to support the use of government funding for the Sparta project.

He also said that he has followed other projects with which the EPA has been involved in surrounding communities.

“We’ve seen the EPA waste millions and millions of dollars,” Reynolds said.

Hess said PPM has developed close relationships with regional EPA officials in Dallas.

“They’ve done things with us before in Bastrop, Louisiana, and Monroe (Louisiana), and I can tell you, with the EPA people I know and trust, that ain’t gonna happen,” Hess said.

EWB Greg Downum urged the board to “separate past bad dealings” with the EPA to consider Hess’s proposal in order to begin identifying potential brownfields in El Dorado.

“In your experience, if you help someone write a $200,000 grant, do they end up with $200,000?” Downum asked Hess. “Yes,” Hess replied firmly. Hess said he spoke with the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce about the matter several months ago.

EWB members agreed to schedule a meeting with the chamber and Reynolds said he would approach the El Dorado City Council with a request to authorize Mayor Frank Hash to apply for a Brownfields grant on behalf of the city.

Hess advised the EWB “to start pretty soon,” noting that grant applications are due to the EPA in December.

“Putting those applications together takes time and effort. I would say the ideal start time to start would be in the next three weeks to put together RFQs and a firm to start driving around town in late August,” Hess said.

“You’ve got a lot of good things going on and I think everyone can get around cleaning up blight and bringing jobs to communities,” he continued.