1984-12-11 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Council Minutes December 11, 1984 Page Six I Myslajek expressed his concern that after the citizens of this community have suffered a serious contamination problem, have committed $8 dollars to digging new wells assuming a large obligation to provide clean water, and feels that to ask the citizens to open themselves to the further possibility of con- tamination by having a storage facility in the same place as the contamination is coming from appears to make the citizens dumb and stupid. We don't want to be injured once again. Let us solve one problem before you give us another one. Reed stated that this permit ultimately could go before the MPCA board. The board has delegated non-controversial hazard- ous waste facility permits to the director of the agency to issue. If there is sufficient public interest and people are requesting to be heard by that board, eventually arguments such as this can go before our board. They are supposed to issue permits if the facility meets the regulations. They will decide whether or not to issue the permit if it is a con- troversial permit. If the PCA denied the permit, Honeywell could continue to operate without the supervision, stated Harcus and Reed con- curred. I Blomquist stated that by allowing the permit, annual inspec- tions are scheduled and he didn't feel that would be enouqh. We donlt know how much has already leaked at that site; ~ perhaps 40,000 is what caused our current contamination problem. By allowing that much storage on that facility is asking for trouble. Harcus would encourage the PCA to require more than ten per- cent containment. I Reed stated that when you are dealing with drums, you don't expect them all to leak at once. The company is required to inspect their drums once a week. 2 Ayes - 3 Nayes (Benke, Harcus, Janecek), Motion Failed Benke felt we do need to send the companies involved a very direct message that we are very concerned about the potential for damage; however, the permitting process appears to be the best hope of minimizing the current process as it exists today. Denying the permit may be counterproductive; would rather pass a motion urging the PCA to adopt stricter stand- ards for the management of those wastes and also to encourage the companies involved to minimize their storage down to 30 days, if possible. Schmidt indicated approval of Benkels comments; however, by taking positions of opposition he believes it would receive more attention than positive statements.