WILLIAMS — Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) officials announced today a $45,000 brownfields grant to Angel’s Corner, Inc. to remove asbestos and lead-based paint from the former Canyon Trading Post located at 5127 N. State Highway 64 in Coconino County. ADEQ’s Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP) will oversee this work.

The 1.45-acre former Canyon Trading Post site consists of five combined structures constructed between 1889 and 1991. Unoccupied for years and in a state of disrepair, this brownfields grant-funded environmental cleanup work is the next of several steps necessary to prepare the property for redevelopment that will emphasize meeting the needs of the community.

Brownfields are properties with active redevelopment potentially hindered by known or perceived environmental contamination. Since it began in 2003, ADEQ’s brownfields grant program has funded more than 50 projects assisting local governments and nonprofits in completing environmental assessments and cleanup. Currently accepting applications, ADEQ’s brownfields grant program conducts projects through Arizona’s State Response Grant using funds provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“Recovering blighted properties by administering non-competitive grants through ADEQ’s brownfields program is just one way we accomplish environmentally responsible economic growth in our state,” ADEQ Director Henry Darwin said. “Our staff works diligently with grant applicants to create customized solutions that maximize program benefits for each community’s unique needs.”

ADEQ’s VRP program allows property owners, prospective purchasers and other interested parties to work in cooperation with ADEQ to streamline investigation and cleanup of contaminated sites and obtain sign-off from all relevant ADEQ programs. ADEQ’s VRP successfully has completed more than 200 site closures since Arizona’s VRP laws came into effect in 2000.