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Arkansas's Penalty-free Contamination Clean-up

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uark.edu

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality is offering a program to help clean hazardous substances found on a person’s property without penalty by entering into an Elective Site Clean-Up Agreement. The program is for those responsible for possible contaminations on their land and is designed to remediate cases within two years.

Chief of the Department’s Hazardous Waste Division, Tammie Hynum said participants are assisted by the Department in investigating and disposing of the substances without penalties they could face otherwise.

“We do think that the Elective Site Cleanup Program is a good program for responsible parties and we think that it gets the contamination areas in the state of Arkansas cleaned up; and the responsible party, at the end of the day does get the comfort of coming forward and doing the right thing and cleaning up the environment,” said Hynum.

After the case has been resolved, participants will receive documentation saying that no further action is required.

“How that assists them is if, down the road, they get ready to sell the property, they've got a letter from a state regulatory agency that says ‘Yes, this party came forward, addressed this area, and it was cleaned-up to satisfaction based on the information at that time,’” said Hynum.

While participants do not face any fines associated with the contamination, the ADEQ said fees may be incurred for professional services.

The ADEQ also provides a similar program for those who have contamination on their property, but are innocent in its cause.

For more information on the ADEQ’s programs, visit their website at www.adeq.state.ar.us