News
Willcox receives $50,000 ADEQ grant to test airport site
By Carol Broeder/Arizona Range News
The City of Willcox is being awarded a $50,000 grant for an environmental site assessment of the county airport.
Steve Owens, director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), announced last week that the city is being awarded a Brownfields grant to perform an environmental site assessment of the Cochise County Airport.
That state agency makes available Brownfields State Response Grant (SRG) funds to assist with projects such as site assessments for local jurisdictions through the application process.
The city is currently in discussions with Cochise County regarding acquisition of the county airport, and had requested the grant in September in anticipation of purchasing the 960-acre airport from the county.
The grant money will be used for a Phase One and, if necessary, a Phase Two environmental site assessment (ESA) to determine if hazardous substances or petroleum products from prior activities have contaminated the site.
"We are pleased to work closely with the City of Willcox to address any possible environmental problems with this site, so the city can complete its negotiations to purchase the airport as quickly as possible," Owens said.
"Our Brownfields program helps identify and reduce environmental risks with properties like this and makes it possible to put them back into productive use," he said. "This airport site in particular is an integral part of Willcox's redevelopment plans."
The city plans to continue to use it as an airport and to improve runways and buildings and access to the site.
The ADEQ Brownfields program will serve as project manager of the ESA on behalf of the city.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides grant funding for assessment and cleanup.
A Brownfields site is an abandoned or under-used property that suffers from known or perceived environmental contamination.
Brownfields funds are normally given to local governments for assessment and cleanup of publicly owned properties, or properties that governmental entities intend to acquire.
Probably the state's best-known Brownfields Program is the Route 66 Initiative, which began in June 2004.
U.S. Route 66 was the first highway connecting Chicago to Los Angeles. By 1938, the entire highway was paved and was in operation until 1970, when new four-lane highways bypassed most of the old segments. A lot of gas stations were needed to fuel vehicles along the way, and many of the fueling systems leaked into the soil and groundwater, according to the ADEQ's website.
In Arizona, which contains more than 200 miles of original Route 66 roadway, about 350 sites with leaking underground storage tanks (LUSTs) or piping have been reported along the historic route. To expedite assessment and cleanup of the LUST sites that remain open, including abandoned (orphaned) USTs; the ADEQ developed the Route 66 Initiative.
About 250, or 70 percent of the sites had been closed. However, at least half of the sites that remain open pose a challenge due to site-specific hydro geologic conditions. Through the initiative, ADEQ has established working relationships with owners, consultants, and the community to move many of these sites into the cleanup phase and eventual closure, the website says.
Steve Owens, director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), announced last week that the city is being awarded a Brownfields grant to perform an environmental site assessment of the Cochise County Airport.
That state agency makes available Brownfields State Response Grant (SRG) funds to assist with projects such as site assessments for local jurisdictions through the application process.
The city is currently in discussions with Cochise County regarding acquisition of the county airport, and had requested the grant in September in anticipation of purchasing the 960-acre airport from the county.
The grant money will be used for a Phase One and, if necessary, a Phase Two environmental site assessment (ESA) to determine if hazardous substances or petroleum products from prior activities have contaminated the site.
"We are pleased to work closely with the City of Willcox to address any possible environmental problems with this site, so the city can complete its negotiations to purchase the airport as quickly as possible," Owens said.
"Our Brownfields program helps identify and reduce environmental risks with properties like this and makes it possible to put them back into productive use," he said. "This airport site in particular is an integral part of Willcox's redevelopment plans."
The city plans to continue to use it as an airport and to improve runways and buildings and access to the site.
The ADEQ Brownfields program will serve as project manager of the ESA on behalf of the city.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides grant funding for assessment and cleanup.
A Brownfields site is an abandoned or under-used property that suffers from known or perceived environmental contamination.
Brownfields funds are normally given to local governments for assessment and cleanup of publicly owned properties, or properties that governmental entities intend to acquire.
Probably the state's best-known Brownfields Program is the Route 66 Initiative, which began in June 2004.
U.S. Route 66 was the first highway connecting Chicago to Los Angeles. By 1938, the entire highway was paved and was in operation until 1970, when new four-lane highways bypassed most of the old segments. A lot of gas stations were needed to fuel vehicles along the way, and many of the fueling systems leaked into the soil and groundwater, according to the ADEQ's website.
In Arizona, which contains more than 200 miles of original Route 66 roadway, about 350 sites with leaking underground storage tanks (LUSTs) or piping have been reported along the historic route. To expedite assessment and cleanup of the LUST sites that remain open, including abandoned (orphaned) USTs; the ADEQ developed the Route 66 Initiative.
About 250, or 70 percent of the sites had been closed. However, at least half of the sites that remain open pose a challenge due to site-specific hydro geologic conditions. Through the initiative, ADEQ has established working relationships with owners, consultants, and the community to move many of these sites into the cleanup phase and eventual closure, the website says.
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