HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Works October 27 1998I WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
2 Public Works and Capital Projects Committee
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4 October 27, 1998
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7 The meeting was called to order at 1:30 p.m. by Committee Chair Barbara Brenner in the
8 Council Committee Room, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington.
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10 Also Present: Absent:
11 Marlene Dawson Tom Brown
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13 COMMITTEE DISCUSSION
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15 1. DISCUSSION REGARDING COUNTY HAZARDOUS WASTE SITES INVENTORY
16 AND CLEAN -UP (AB98 -372)
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18 (Clerk's Note: Due to an audiotape malfunction, the first portion of the meeting is
19 inaudible. Minutes are taken from the Clerk's notes)
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21 Brenner stated that there are many potential hazardous waste sites in Whatcom County.
22 They need to identify the sites, then identify a process for processing and clean up. She heard
23 that there might be over 100 sites. There is a website that identifies Whatcom County as the fifth
24 worst location in the State for toxic waste areas.
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26 Regina Delahunt, Health and Human Services Environmental Services Manager, stated
27 that there are several large industries in the County. There is information related to sites that
28 have been identified in the County, which is a map of old and existing landfills in the County.
29 There are 20 -27 sites on the map.
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31 John Harding, Secretary /Treasurer of the Hemmi Road Water Association, stated that
32 there is a location on the corner of the Laurel and Aldrich roads. Delahunt stated that these are
33 solid waste sites of record dating back from the 1960s and 1970s. The County had small sites all
34 over the place. It includes Acme, Everson - Goshen, and the "Y" Road dumps.
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36 Brenner stated that there is a superfund site that is not included on the list. Delahunt
37 stated that this map is of landfills of record.
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39 Brenner stated that Wilder's was not an ash pile, it was a dump.
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41 Dawson questioned whether the car dump on the Nooksack Reservation was included.
42 Delahunt stated it was not.
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44 Delahunt stated that a 1971 document described the landfills. Some sites were even on
45 County property.
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47 (Clerk's Note: End of defective audiotape one.)
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Public Works Committee, 10/27/98, Page 1
I Delahunt stated that there is no monitoring program in place for the sites. They do go out
2 occasionally and review whether they see a sign of release from the site.
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4 Brenner questioned whether they could hire someone to test the sites. Delahunt stated
5 that they could do that. They would have to look at the financial implications. They would also
6 have to put in groundwater monitoring wells and soil samples. All the Health Department does
7 is take a look -see, some gas monitoring, or water quality monitoring.
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9 Brenner stated that if there is monitoring like that, then they would not necessarily
10 confirm a problem just by looking.
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12 Delahunt stated that they could see if there is a soil cover or leaching. Most have no
13 requirements for cover.
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15 Delahunt stated that the State Department of Ecology (DOE) also has a listing for all
16 hazardous sites. There is a confirmed and suspected contaminated site list. The Wilder landfill
17 is listed. Sites have at least a first investigation by DOE. On the rating system, one is the worst
18 and five is the best. The areas have been ranked. There is another list of sites not yet ranked, but
19 have suspected contamination. The list is the latest, from April of 1998. The other is from
20 February 1998. Regarding the hazardous site list, there is a state grant available for clean up
21 activities. The County applied for a grant in 1994 and received it. They ran into the problem
22 that the County Council did not want to increase FTE, but contract the services out. The point of
23 that State grant was to not contract out those services. They want to build capacity locally to
24 look at the particular sites. The State was reluctant to give out money if services were contracted
25 out. The State DOE said they might give out some money if services were contracted out. Also,
26 the local union stated that it is environmental health services work. They didn't go any further
27 with it in 1994.
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Brenner stated that if the County writes up the FTE to be tied to grant money, it would be
okay.
Delahunt stated that if the money is not tied to contract out services, then the Health
Department could use it for the purchase of equipment.
Brenner stated that the State shouldn't dictate to the County whether they subcontract out
services.
Delahunt stated that the Puget Sound counties are involved.
40 Brenner asked about federal money. Delahunt stated that there are 3 or 4 sites on which
41 the EPA is the lead agency. There is no federal money that she is aware of. There probably is
42 money for hazardous waste clean up.
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44 Delahunt stated that there is also State money available to counties for clean up activities
45 for superfund sites. They would want the local jurisdictions to run the site through a ranking
46 system. The County has a responsibility for County sites. The County needs to more closely
47 take a look at the condition of the sites, especially if funding is available.
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Public Works Committee, 10/27/98, Page 2
I Brenner asked about testing at the "Y" Road location. Delahunt stated that the only
2 monitoring activity was a walk around the site. No samples were taken. There have been stream
3 samples taken in the past.
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5 Gibson stated that the "Y" Road is not a part of the Lake Whatcom watershed. Delahunt
6 stated that it drains right into Carpenter Creek, which goes into Lake Whatcom.
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8 Harding stated that he was concerned about the CCC dump because there is a creek
9 above it. People are drawing water off the side of the creek. He was most concerned with the
10 Hemmi Road Water well near the Everson - Goshen site. They put in a standpipe to monitor the
11 well. The State forced them to move a well across from the Georgia Pacific (GP) dump. There
12 are three dumps near the Association. He was also concerned because they have to use the well
13 next to the Everson - Goshen dump whenever the power goes out. He tested it. It came out okay.
14 There is also a pond next to the dump. There is a landfill there. He is filtering with ozone
15 because of the presence of manganese and other items that might be in the water. He is
16 concerned about the water being pumped to people. They are filtering out the manganese. They
17 were using chlorine to filter, but they received complaints about the chlorine. When filtered,
18 pollutants go into a settling tank, then it is pumped through the filters. John Thielman of the
19 State Department of Health has kept him from doing the filtering process for a long time. He
20 okayed the back up well.
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22 Brenner questioned whether these sites are on the list. Delahunt stated that the Everson -
23 Goshen, CCR, and GP sites are all on the lists.
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25 Harding stated that he wanted a monitoring well next to a dump, but there is a pond from
26 which a person could monitor.
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28 Brenner stated that it might be more important to just clean it up.
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30 Gibson stated that it depends on the soil profile.
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32 Brenner stated that they don't even know the direction of the water flows.
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34 Delahunt stated that there is a lot of hydrology information for the area.
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36 Dawson questioned the service area. Harding stated that the State allows them 204 water
37 shares. They are currently serving 126, including Meridian School District. They are getting the
38 water from 1500 feet up the hill. Also, the other concern is Coyote Lane. GP has been buying
39 water for the Wilson family, whose well is near GP. GP bought the Wilson family a share.
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41 Delahunt stated that the Wilson well is close to the GP landfill. They monitor the
42 neighboring wells. The Health Department has concerns with the Wilson well. Some of the
43 contaminants have been increasing. They have a large family and draw a lot of water. It would
44 be better if they were not using that well, so GP made arrangements to have them hooked up to
45 the water association.
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47 Harding stated that the State just okayed the construction work. Now, GP is buying the
48 Wilsons' drinking water. There is also a trailer in the area.
Public Works Committee, 10/27/98, Page 3
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Delahunt stated that this well next to the trailer must have been done without a permit.
Harding stated that they have plenty of water for more shares. Delahunt stated that GP is
an operating landfill with a permit and is being monitored. There is a responsible person there.
Brenner questioned old landfills and the current use of the properties. Harding stated that
the area is being grazed.
Delahunt stated that she hadn't visited them personally. The old Blaine landfill is the
Marine Park. The "Y" Road landfill is just grassland. Most of the locations are small for
landfills. The list gives the acreage of each of the sites.
Brenner stated that she wanted an evaluation of potential problems, such as which
location could be the most hazardous. Some need to be cleaned up, if it turns out they're bad.
Harding stated that he would like to see monitoring. Brenner stated that the area has
three landfills and they should have monitoring for the area.
Delahunt stated that GP does a lot of monitoring.
Brenner questioned whether they could require more monitoring from CCR.
Delahunt stated that they could change the regulations.
Harding stated that the CCR dump had a fire last year.
Brenner questioned why they weren't required to do groundwater monitoring. Delahunt
stated that they were operating before the regulations.
Brenner questioned why this has not come up before. Delahunt stated that it is not
required by the regulations.
Delahunt stated that CCR hydrology is all clay. CCR is on heavy clay layers.
Harding stated that there is a lake beside the CCR dump. Several homes draw water near
the lake and creek.
Delahunt stated that CCR monitors the creek.
Brenner questioned whether Delahunt believed there does not need to be monitoring of
the CCR site due to the heavy clay. Delahunt stated that there is not a big potential for ground
water contamination, but she would feel better with groundwater monitoring wells at CCR.
They need to change the regulations. She was unsure of the implications to current facilities.
CCR is the only existing open landfill. There are specific regulations for construction and
demolition debris landfills.
Gibson questioned whether construction debris is characterized as hazardous waste.
Public Works Committee, 10/27/98, Page 4
I Delahunt stated that it is not.
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3 Brenner stated that anything in the ground that could potentially impact the water should
4 be considered hazardous waste. Solid waste landfill sites could possible be hazardous.
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6 Delahunt stated that CCR test for leaching regularly. That would be an indication of
7 what is going in.
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9 Brenner stated that she wanted someone to evaluate the sites. They may not have to
10 monitor wells on every site. Maybe someone could determine what was buried and for how
11 long. They could compile a list of which sites should go further with clean up.
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13 Chuck Benjamin, Health and Human Services Director, stated that they could find an
14 engineer that does that type of work. It would cost money.
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16 Brenner questioned whether State grant money could pay for that. Delahunt stated that it
17 is possible, as long as state funds are available.
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19 Benjamin stated that the biennium ends next June. The County should apply now.
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21 Brenner suggested looking into that option for engineering /consulting work.
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23 Harding questioned Benjamin whether it would be enough if he monitors synthetic
24 organic chemicals (SOC) and volatile organic chemicals (VOC). Delahunt questioned whether
25 he is doing metals also. Harding stated that he has not, because it is a standby well. They
26 haven't used it in four years. It may be used in the wintertime.
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28 Delahunt suggested using the standards parameters and testing for metals.
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30 Harding stated that he has been doing the testing annually.
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32 Brenner stated that she wanted to see a proposal for grant money. She suggested getting
33 the State to a meeting to talk about the grant money.
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35 Harding stated that he had not done the VOC and SOC this year. 1997 was the last year
36 he had done the testing. He questioned whether the Health Department would take care of it.
37 Delahunt responded that the Health Department does not have a lab. It has to be done
38 commercially.
39 Delahunt stated that they could have this be an element of the Endangered Species Act
40 (ESA) plan.
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42 Brenner asked about other ideas for preventing leaching, such as an elemental cover like
43 lime. It wouldn't bind other things beside heavy metals.
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45 Brenner stated that she wanted to make this a goal.
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47 Delahunt stated that she would check out federal grants. They are usually for actual
48 clean up activities. She would contact a State grant official to request a presentation before the
Public Works Committee, 10/27/98, Page 5
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committee at a future meeting in November or December.
Dawson stated that the Nooksack site is on the federal list.
Delahunt submitted the guidelines for the grant.
Jon Einarsen, Ph.D., Bek Purnell Engineering, stated that they do environmental site
assessments to determine environmental risk associated with certain properties. They are
familiar with the list of all of the contaminated sites in the County. They already have a drawing
that indicates the geology of the County and all of the State and federal sites on a map. It would
have to be considered preliminary information. They have not yet done testing.
Harding stated that he has studies on the Everson - Goshen dump.
Delahunt stated that the private company would have more information available to them
about the sites. They've done private assessments.
Brenner stated that she wanted to see of the proposal include a requirement that the
company has experience with this type of work.
ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 2:25 p.m.
Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription
ATTEST:
Dana Brown- Davis, Council Clerk
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON
Barbara Brenner, Council Member
Public Works Committee, 10/27/98, Page 6