PRECA 07-29-1985 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Warren W. Schaber July 1, 1985 Page 3 It is difficult to generalize regarding any potential liability of the County as a result cf this petroleum sludge, as this would depend greatly upon the facts and cireumatancee giving rise to the legal problem. Although Ramsey County had no direct involvement in creating the problem, it is likely that any resulting litigation would be brought under the Environmental Liability Act (Chapter 1158 of the Minnesota Statutes - commonly called the Superfund law) and the County would be a named party due to present ownership of the property. Fvr liability to attach, the material would have to qualify as a "hazardous substance" by definition and the County would have to engage in conduct by which they were associated with a release or took action which significantly contributed to any release of the hazardous substance. However, we would certainly have the right to counter-claim against the City of New Brighton and/or Northwest Refinery for any damages for which we may be held responsible. The current revision of the Environmental Liability Act, effective July 1, 1985, is also of great significance to the County.., as it will allow us to likely escape liability under the Act for injury to person or property. Under the previous law, damages could be assessed fox such injuries if ,the hazardous substances had been placed be~are January 1, 196q. The revision, however, limits application of the law to deposits made after July 1, 1983. See Minn. Star. 51158.06. With this removal of retroactivity, the provisions of the Act which create liability for injury to persons or property (Minn. Star. g1158.g5) will not apply to the sludge deposits, as they were + made well before July 1, 1983. However, we would still retain potential liability under Minn. Stat. S115B.g4 for remedial costs and any injury to or destruction of natural resources. There may also be some additional legal implications regarding the sludge deposits after their removal. The MPCA has indicated that some longer term issues remain which may necessitate future action by Ramsey County. They involve contaminated ground water as a result of the sludge pits or. possible oil on the watertable in the slough area. Either of these items would require additional remedial ar removal action. This has been discussed with Dan Schacht, Environmental Services Engineer who has overseen this aspect of the project, and he has stated that the action by the MPCA is a situation where they simply want to keep all their options open, He further stated that there is not any current evidence which would indicate that the petroleum sludge has caused any problems of this nature. However, the Board should be aware that the MPCA does have the power to order further remedial action, that Ramsey County would be legally obligated to comply with any such direction, and that ~S