R&P Electroplating site cleanup complete

— An abandoned industrial site in southeast Fayetteville can now become city parkland.

Officials with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality presented Mayor Lioneld Jordan with a certificate Thursday recognizing that cleanup of the former R&P Electroplating property at 2000 Pump Station Road is complete.

The chromium metal plating company closed in 1997. The following year, Fayetteville police discovered dozens of containers of hazardous materials, including copper and silver cyanide; chromic, hydrochloric and sulfuric acid; caustic soda; industrial solvents; and cleaning solutions.

Environmental Quality Department officials removed all hazardous and non-hazardous materials in 2010 and monitored groundwater for contamination during the past two years.

Katherine Benenati, spokeswoman for the department, said Thursday that no further remediation is needed.

The cleanup cost approximately $2.6 million, paid for through the Arkansas Brownfields program, which seeks to return contaminated property to beneficial use.

Fayetteville Parks and Recreation staff plan to convert the former R&P site into a field for Ultimate Frisbee and other sports. A trail, pavilion and picnic tables are also planned.

The 5.8-acre property links the city's White River Baseball Complex with Combs Park, where a model airplane club operates.

"We are very excited to have (this land) as part of the Parks and Recreation Department," Parks and Recreation director Connie Edmonston said Thursday.

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