Mesa receives EPA grant for cleanup around new light rail expansion

MESA, Ariz. — The city of Mesa has a received a large grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to cleanup the environment around the new light rail expansion through downtown.

The city received two brownfield assessment grants worth $200,000 each, which Scott Bouchie, the city’s environmental and sustainability deputy director, noted will help take care of many old auto shops and gas stations along East Main Street.

“Properties we see along Main Street are auto-related businesses, whether they’re old gas stations or they’re old muffler shops or those types of things,” he said. “A lot of the properties that we’ll be looking at have old either fuel tanks or old oil tanks or they’ve stored hazardous materials in the past.”

The $400,000 in grant money will go toward inspections and planning the revitalization of these buildings, Bouchie said.

None of the money will go to the purchasing or actual cleanup of the properties.