Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality chief Tammie J. Hynum presents a certificate to Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan recognizing that cleanup of the former R&P Electroplating property is complete.
Photo by Todd Gill, Flyer staff
A former electroplating site once home to tons of abandoned hazardous chemicals in southeast Fayetteville is now clean and ready to be converted into public parkland.
Officials with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality issued Mayor Lioneld Jordan with a certificate of completion Thursday finalizing the cleanup process of the former R&P Electroplating property at 2000 Pump Station Road.
A poster displayed during Thursday’s ceremony shows the location of the cleaned property in the White River Park / Combs Park Corridor.
Photo: Todd Gill
The 5.8-acre site was used primarily as a chromium metal plating operation from 1974 to 1997. It was later discovered that the property contained hazardous substances including cyanides, acids, caustic soda, cleaning solutions and over 6,000 gallons of contaminated sludge and sediments.
A five-month cleanup process began in April 2010 which included dismantling of buildings and demolition of concrete slabs and sumps. The site was then excavated, graded and seeded. Results of groundwater sampling conducted in 2011 and 2012 showed that no further cleanup was required.
The $2.6 million project was paid for through the Arkansas Brownfields program, which aims to return potentially contaminated property to beneficial use including environmentally sound redevelopment.
Parks and Recreation director Connie Edmonston said she was excited to add the property to the city’s parkland roster. Edmonston said the plan is to build an Ultimate Frisbee field, a trail, pavilion, multi-use building and picnic tables on the site which will link the city’s White River Baseball Complex with the 80-acre Combs Park.
The former electroplating factory property is the 30th site to be cleaned up under the Arkansas Brownfields program. A certificate was presented to North Little Rock officials in August 2012 recognizing cleanup of a 160-acre site off Highway 165 that was also redeveloped into a park.
If ever there was a street up for re-naming, how about we re-name “Pump Station Road”. There’s your Harry Potter reference op.
Why rename it? It’s a historically accurate name (and could be argued that it’s still accurate as the old pump station still exists).
Were the former owners who profited from this plant ever fined? And wasn’t one of them on the planning commission?
Yes, you are correct. And, if my memory serves me right, the owners were fined for dumping heavy metals into the sewer system which they never paid.
Any idea how much of that stuff wound up in our drinking reservoir?
“Results of groundwater sampling conducted in 2011 and 2012 showed that no further cleanup was required.”
Say’s who & why, I wonder.
Just cos they spent 2 point whatever, and only 5 months cleaning it up, don’t mean it’s safe.
Seriously? Did they say that the cleanup was complete due to X dollars and X time spent on the project. No. They declared that cleanup was complete based on results of scientific testing. I think it is weird how some people insist on ignoring the facts in front of them and then come up with their own theories based on nothing more than their own skewed preconceptions.
i don’t know if the original owners where ever fined or if the taxpayers paid for this clean up (fayetteville flyer?) but i am happy that the city acquired this property…the ultimate frisbee folks have been looking for a dedicated playing field for years and this site would be perfect. plus, how cool would it be if we renovated the stone pump station dam building and caretakers’ house into something functional?
Are you saying dismiss any lesson there might be in the past and move on to the next good time? If it’s true that history repeats itself there’s no harm in understanding what happened and hoping to be more alert next time.
She made no such statement. She inquired about the history and then displayed a positive attitude about the present and future. You might try that sometime.
are they going to be torn down – can I salvage them before the parking lot goes in?