Here’s an interesting excerpt from the Holbrook Tribune-News in Holbrook, Ariz.
(City Manager David) Newlin also told the council that the city has been selected to be part of a pilot project to develop sites along Route 66 that have undergone cleanup related to underground storage tanks (USTs). He explained that additional meetings will be scheduled and additional information will be forthcoming.
Programs like this are overdue. I’ve known of several properties along Route 66 that seemed viable for small entrepreneurs until they realized there were underground fuel storage tanks on them. The mere possibility of some sort of EPA-mandated cleanup — even for properties with the tanks removed — is enough to scare off many investors. As a result, I’ve seen several vintage properties — the Bent Door in Adrian, Texas, as a prime example — languish and deteriorate because of the UST stigma.
Such a program like the one in Holbrook is a step in the right direction.