CCP 03-25-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Sites that extended into the nearby park area. Also, the City successfully obtained cleanup grants from DEED and Met Council in January 2007 to conduct the soil remediation in Tract 2. Previously, the MCPA Superfund program's position regarding the groundwater contamination at the NW Refinery and Trio Solvent Sites was that it did not present a significant risk to nearby surface water receptors located in the Ramsey County Park. That position was reflected by the fact that MPCA had already de -listed a portion of the NW Refinery Site from Superfund in the park near Long Lake, and MPCA was poised to de -list the Trio Site from Superfund in 2006 following the completion of favorable groundwater monitoring in the park in 2001 to 2005 by Alliant Tech (the responsible party for the Trio Solvent Site). Based on MPCA's approval of the City's planned soil cleanup, and the previous decisions for the Superfund sites, it was believed that the two Superfund sites could be de -listed following the City's soil remediation. De -listing is an important administrative step by MPCA in support of the City's planned residential development. Over the past two years, new developments emerged that have resulted in additional investigations at MW Asphalt, and led to some modifications for the proposed cleanup and redevelopment: 1. The developers' geotechnical consultant required very deep excavations to remove a layer of organic soil beneath residences. In order to complete those excavations, a much larger volume of contaminated soil located below the groundwater table would need to be managed involving significant additional costs (especially in the portion of the NW Refinery Area at MW Asphalt). 2. In early 2007, the City and the developers decided to abandon plans for residential development of the NW Refinery area (i.e., the northern 8 acres of MW Asphalt), which would avoid the significant costs associated with correction of the poor geotechnical soil in an area of extensive environmental contamination. A revised cleanup plan (September 2007 RAP) was prepared for contaminated soil removal in Tract 2 in support of future residential development, along with construction of a clean cover and future City park on the northern 8 acres at MW Asphalt associated with the NW Refinery Site. 3. The September 2007 RAP was approved by the MPCA in October 2007 and the City contracted with Belair Excavating to begin implementing the revised cleanup starting later that month. However, the MPCA later told the City to hold off on placing the clean cover at the NW Refinery Area while they worked with Ashland (the responsible party for the NW Refinery Site) to address their new concerns regarding the NW Refinery Site. 4. In 2007, the MPCA also changed their previous position by requiring additional groundwater investigations and they are imposing more stringent groundwater cleanup goals to be further protective of the nearby off-site surface water receptors in the park. The subsequent groundwater investigations were conducted by the City, Ashland, and Alliant Tech in 2007. The results of the groundwater investigation, which are currently under review by MPCA, indicate that petroleum impacts in the park related to the NW Refinery Site exceed the MPCA cleanup goals while the groundwater impacts related to the Trio Solvent Site meet the cleanup goals. At this time, the MPCA has reiterated their approval for the planned soil cleanup in Tract 2 (located south of the NW Refinery) by Belair that will largely be funded by the City's DEED and Met Council Cleanup Grants. The Tract 2 cleanup is expected to resume later this month when the frost subsides and will likely be completed later this spring. C:\Documents and Settings\gferne\Local SettingsUemporary Internet Files\OLK18D\City Council Work Session March 2008.doc Page 3 of 4