City of Pine Bluff, ArkansasBrownfields Project

Target Community

The target community is Pine Bluff, Arkansas, with an emphasis on the city’s central sector. Pine Bluff is a port city with a rich cultural and industrial history. Pine Bluff is the sixth largest city in Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County. Incorporated in 1839, Pine Bluff is the second oldest settlement on the Arkansas River. Its railroad history dates back more than 100 years, and Union Pacific currently operates the major electronic classification yard directly east of the Port of Pine Bluff.

The city is the trade, entertainment, recreation and healthcare center for Southeast Arkansas. Located in the heart of the rich Arkansas River Basin farming area, the community is a leading producer of cotton, soybeans, cattle, rice, poultry, timber and catfish.

 

A diverse industrial base also exists. This industrial base includes industries producing metal, wood, and paper products; machinery; electrical equipment; and foods.

Despite this, Pine Bluff has lost several companies and manufacturing facilities within recent decades. The City lost five manufacturing facilities, alone, within the past three years.

Other remnants of its industrial and commercial past are scattered throughout the city’s central sector, some in neighborhoods, some along the 6th Street corridor and downtown.

 

Benefits

Identification of Unacceptable Human Health Exposures: Unfortunately, residents near these developments fall into low income classifications and may bear a disproportionate environmental burden if human exposure pathways are discovered. This grant will enable the City to assess some of these properties and coordinate with appropriate entities to address any risks to human health and the environment.

Economic Benefits: By paving the way for brownfields cleanup and redevelopment, this grant will promote a variety of economic benefits. The central sector suffers from elevated poverty rates and depressed property values. This situation can make a gradual change with the right amount of stimulus. Redeveloping brownfields can result in construction employment and new job creation within the central sector. Removing the blight caused by brownfields, coupled with existing redevelopment efforts, will revive interest in living and/or transacting business within the central sector. This will result in rising property values, increased real estate investment, increased sales tax revenue, and increased wealth accumulation of central sector residents.

Central Sector Decline: Company and plant closures and consolidations, population decline, suburban development, and construction of new commercial nodes have all had an effect on the central sector. Several businesses and residences were abandoned over the years, including some of the city’s historic 19th and early 20th century homes which lie in dilapidation. Some of the historic downtown commercial structures are at risk of demolition as they await attention from investors.

Ready for Revival: Despite its interim state, the central sector is primed for revitalization. Preliminary development work has been done in the sector’s federally recognized historic district. Also, the City of Pine Bluff has been constructing affordable homes in accordance with redevelopment plans for downtown and the University Park Neighborhood—a central sector neighborhood in which the population is 97% minority and 32% of families (41% of individuals) live below poverty (U.S. Census Data). The City also constructed a $4 million Farmer’s Market pavilion, on the lake that unites downtown with the once-isolated University Park Neighborhood. New investments have been made downtown in recent years, and there is promise of more.

 

Accelerated Progress: The city understands that much of the economic development will come from local investors with limited capital and others with a vested interest in seeing the city prosper. To this end, the city wants to remove any impediments toward this progress, namely, concern of the extent of environmental cleanup necessary to return the property to its usefulness. With this grant, the City will be able to serve as a catalyst for revitalizing properties within the planned development areas, in turn, opening “the door to opportunity” for smaller investors.

Environmental Impacts: Environmental impacts resulting from intense industrial use within the central sector have surfaced in the past. The most notable impact occurred with Lake Pine Bluff and the discovery of its contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the 1980s. Subsequent remediation efforts proved successful, and the lake was later reopened for fishing. However, a fish kill in 1999 led to a study that discovered the presence of ammonia, PCBs, and other contaminants in the fish. Since lake tributaries flow through two of the older industrial areas, any potential uncontrolled pollutants resulting from industrial wind erosion or surface water runoff within these areas can prove to be hazardous to human health. In this case, any potential contaminants would likely enter the food chain through fish and other wildlife.

Economic Impacts: Deteriorated industrial and commercial properties contribute to blight and a continual disinvestment from residents and business owners. The motivation and feasibility to make capital improvements dwindles among the backdrop of rusted, dilapidated industrial structures. This results in stagnant or declining property values that directly impact the public entities that depend on its revenue, especially public schools. Without an intervention and public investment, this situation will continue its downward spiral.