Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
More than 30 days into her contract with Eddy County, Sarah Smith Warren addressed commissioners by phone Tuesday to discuss a path forward for cleaning up the former Mill Pump property.
In February, the commission had agreed to pay Smith Warren $2,000 to write a grant that would provide funding for the work. She told commissioners Tuesday she quickly realized that the course of action was not feasible, as there are currently no grant dollars available and there won’t be for two or more years.
After several conversations with staff at the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), she
reached out to Leon Vetter seeking a solution that both made sense for the county and met the cleanup requirements imposed by the DEQ. Vetter took another look at available documentation on the site and suggested a partnership between the county and department. There are three main steps to his proposal, as outlined below.
A new inspection/assessment of the property is needed. DEQ officials offered to come out and test the soil using their instruments at no cost. The county in turn would be responsible for the cost of equipment, likely a backhoe, and labor to dig test holes as instructed by DEQ. An assessment of the building is also needed, as it was built the very same year that asbestos was outlawed. DEQ agreed to conduct that assessment for no cost.
Once the assessments are complete, DEQ would develop a scope of work for the remediation. The county would then hire a contractor to dig up the tanks, remove the contaminated soil and then backfill with clean dirt. DEQ would have an expert on site to guide and supervise the contractor’s work.
The county must provide a site to place the contaminated soil for further treatment. The contractor would haul the soil to an approved site, where it would be spread and turned regularly for at least a year until the contamination is deemed to be mitigated.
Although it wasn’t the financial relief the county was seeking, they determined it was still the best course of action. “We really don’t have any choice but to move forward,” concluded Gehrtz.
The Commission asked that the assessment step be done as soon as possible. They also requested that Smith Warren submit a bill for her work done thus far and then present a written estimate of cost on an hourly basis for her to manage the project until it is complete.
The county will seek local contractors for both the assessment and the mitigation work.