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Commission authorizes $89,482 for Plant 7 monitoring and to provide financial assurance to EPA
Summary
At US EPA Region 5's request the commission authorized Swenson Marzak Associates to perform additional monitoring at the Plant 7 cleanup for roughly $89,482 and empowered staff to document the commission's ability to satisfy costs beyond the trust fund; the motion passed unanimously after extended public comment about plumes and river contamination.
The Anderson Redevelopment Commission voted unanimously March 10 to authorize Swenson Marzak Associates to carry out additional monitoring at the Plant 7 cleanup at a cost of roughly $89,482 and to allow staff to provide documentation to U.S. EPA that the commission can cover costs beyond the existing cleanup trust fund if necessary.
Staff explained the monitoring will focus primarily on quarterly sampling of monitoring wells to evaluate potential vapor intrusion and track the residual subsurface plume. As staff noted, the commission accepted the property under a prior consent decree with the former General Motors and US EPA; the cleanup trust was once close to $12 million but staff said the fund is largely exhausted and that part of upcoming monitoring will be paid out of ARC resources. "This monitoring is looking at outstanding wells that they sample on a quarterly basis in order to make sure that there's no issues as far as potential vapor mitigation from that downstream flow," staff said when presenting the scope and estimated cost.
Members of the public urged more mapping and immediate groundwater or river testing, reporting visible brown water and algae blooms downstream. Commissioners and staff repeatedly referred to EPA's assessment that there is no immediate public-health hazard from the site while agreeing to ask the ARC environmental scientists to brief the commission at the next meeting and to provide EPA documents to residents on request.
The motions authorized (1) Swenson Marzak Associates to proceed with the monitoring work at an estimated $89,482 for the next year and (2) staff to communicate to EPA evidence of the commission’s ability to meet costs beyond the trust if EPA requires additional assurances. Both motions were carried unanimously.
