EPA awards $1 million for cleanup projects in Spanish Fork and Murray
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced $1 million in Brownfields grant funding to support the environmental assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of critical properties in the communities of Spanish Fork and Murray. The city of Spanish Fork will receive $500,000 to assess several priority properties that have elevated concentrations of contaminants in soil and groundwater. Murray will receive $500,000 to assess contaminations at properties within the central business district.
The grants are part the EPA’s Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup (MAC) grant programs. Brownfields are defined as former industrial or other sites with contamination needing remediation.
“EPA’s Brownfields grants are supporting critical cleanup and redevelopment projects in Utah,” said KC Becker, EPA regional administrator. “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.”
Spanish Fork will use funding to assess environmental contamination at two priority sites within the city: the Express Way Landfill that has been identified as containing comtaminents and the site of a former foundry that manufactured iron and brass castings with the use of hazardous chemicals.
“This grant will also give the city the opportunity to plan for the redevelopment of areas that are underutilized and have been used industrially,” said Mayor Mike Mendenhall. “I thank the EPA for their grant funding and continued support as we work to make Spanish Fork a great place to live and work.”
Murray will use the grant to assess two priority sites in its central business district: the Creek Pocket Park and the Soccer Locker. Creek Pocket Park is a vacant residential parcel located near the historic Murray smelters and is known to contain lead, asbestos, arsenic, cadmium and other heavy metals. The Soccer Locker is a 2.78-acre lot located along the Little Cottonwood Creek. Previous investigations of the property indicate high levels of arsenic and other metals, presumed to be slag and mine waste.