The only red scare that's going to happen at a plastics property in Fort Smith, Ark., will involve making sure the right color recycled resin is used.
A state investigation has cleared a property that Ecotech International plans to use to make new products from recycled resin after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders raised questions about ownership of the site. Her concern: Communists from China purchased the building at 4811 S. Zero Street, in Fort Smith, to gain proximity to nearby military operations.
That proved to be unfounded.
The site, previously home to a Trane heating and cooling systems manufacturing location, has been vetted by the state's attorney general, who found no problems with the new owners Olivet International Inc. of Mira Loma, Calif., parent company to Ecotech.
The governor came out swinging in raising questions about ownership of the property prior to the matter being resolved by the state attorney general's office.
"Communist China is America's greatest adversary. I won't let them buy up land close to our military installations and spy on our nation's defense assets," Huckabee Sanders said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "I kicked out a CCP state-owned company once and will do it again to protect Arkansas' Ebbing Air National Guard Base."
But Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin later came out with his office's investigation into ownership of the property near Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, indicating he found no foreign ownership concerns.
The property, Griffin stated: "Is not owned by, controlled by or associated with a 'prohibited foreign-party-controlled-business.'"
Griffin also thanked the owners of the property for their cooperation as well as attorneys and agents in his office who looked into the matter.
The property came into question after Wesley Ward, state secretary of agriculture, sent Griffin a letter July 23 calling for an investigation.
He pointed to a state law passed in 2023 as grounds for an investigation. A "prohibited foreign-party controlled business" is not allowed to acquire public or private property in the state.
In the letter, Ward asked Griffin to "commence appropriate legal action" if he determines the company that purchased the Fort Smith site is controlled by Chinese-based interests.
"The Arkansas Department of Agriculture believes that 4811 S. Zero Street, LLC may be operating in violation of Act 636. Due to the reasonable suspicion of ownership ties with China and the Chinese Communist Party as well as the national security concerns associated with the site's proximity to Ebbing Air National Guard Base, we are reporting the potential violation to your office," Ward's letter to Griffin states.
But that was not the case.
Ecotech was reached Aug. 20 but did not provide immediate comment for this story. The company already operates a plant in Fayetteville, Ark., which uses recycled resin to make new products. The company recycles high density polyethylene, polypropylene and mixed plastics.
The company's capabilities include recycling, product design and development, injection molding, pipe extrusion, pelletizing, blow molding, vacuum forming, and mold design and repair, according to its website.