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Pine Bluff Site Selected For EPA Brownfields Grant

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that Pine Bluff will receive $200,000 to clean up a contaminated downtown site.

The city is among 171 communities that will receive 264 grants worth $67 million in brownfields funding to clean and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and protect public health and the environment.

The Pine Bluff site formerly housed a gas station. While all structures on the site have been removed - including an unregistered waste oil tank - service islands attached to underground piping remain. Officials say contamination at the site includes arsenic, barium and other metals.

EPA Regional Administrator Ron Curry says the grants will help Pine Bluff's economy and increase the sustainability of its downtown community.

For more information on the EPA's brownfields program, visit: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

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