2006-04-05
CSFM Meeting Minutes


In Attendance: Richard M. Battison, Dennis Spackman, Verdon Walker, David Colby, Rolf Larsen, Tom Hopkins, Ray Limb, Bob Ainslie, Fran Costanzi, Kristen Thelen


Sharon Steel Updates

Elizabeth Yeomans was unable to attend the meeting.  In an e-mail she sent to Kristen, she said there was nothing new to report.  She has not been aware of any activity on the site since our last meeting.


Midvale Slag Updates

Fran Costanzi -  They finished another quarter.  Entact and Littleson submitted a new package.  They are far along with the consent decree milestones.  All the slag is now covered.  The only thing left open is Area C.  The slag is graded and all common fill has been put down (except in that one area).  Cover soil is finished in the two grids by 7800 S.   Hopefully that will be finished by the end of the month.  

Bob Ainslie - Hopefully in the next week or so they will start seeding.  To water the soil they will be using water trucks and storage tanks to water.  They are also trying to get rights for using Jordan River to irrigate with.  If that happens they will put in an irrigation system above the ground.  If that doesn't happen – they will use the water trucks.

Fran – They are required to maintain so much coverage with the vegetation or they have to redo it.  Entact will be responsible for one year to keep it up – afterwards it will revert to Littleson or the developer.  

They can eventually cover the dirt with other things (parking lots, etc), but until then vegetation is the best solution.  

Fran  is currently reviewing the seed mix.  One seed is supposed to grow quickly and establish, and others will take longer.  One of the seeds is a dry soil grass.   

They have been dealing with a couple of quirks lately.  The river has been high, so there are a couple of things that have had to be put off.

Discussions continuing with the Riparian zone.  No decisions have been made.  
They are hoping to find a solution that will make the banks more stable for the different levels of the river.  

The city will be in charge of the trail that is along that area.   

There have been a lot of strong winds – there have been some complaints to the city and state in the health department.  As part of the design there were plans for fugitive dust.  These plans were reviewed by EPA and city.  The state also involved their air quality department in reviewing these plans.   There were things ENTACT was required to do when they had strong winds – using water trucks, having things like rocks in place for the trucks to drive over, cleaning up what was brought off site.  But with 60-70 MPH, there's not a lot you can do with an area that big.  The state's regulations don't hold you to any of the restrictions over 25 MPH winds.  You just have to shut down and run the water trucks as long as possible.  When it got really bad one day, they had to shut down the water trucks, since the trucks couldn't see where the ditches were (there was the potential for an accident), and the water trucks weren't doing much anyway.  The soil that was blowing around was clean soil, it's not contaminated.

Most people who complained are not concerned about the soil being contaminated, they just don't like the dirt blowing.  

Fran –  Are concerned about the problem with wind blowing the dust, and have looked into it, but when it gets that bad, there is just not much they can do.   They have talked at length about what they can do, but there have been no suggestions made that would improve the situation.

Bob Ainslie- The day of the strong winds they were running for awhile, but when they noticed that it was going to be windy, they shut down all the machines and trucks, and only ran water trucks.  

Comment: it would be interesting to know how much dirt was lost.
Fran: They checked to make sure the minimum cap level was still met.  It was.

Comment (Tom Hopkins) – interesting that they  put those kinds of requirements on a project like this, but there are no requirements for farmers or agricultural events.  

Fran – when the seed goes down it will have a tactifier. Bob Ainslie– the tactifier will lock the seed down, and help it hold moisture.  Hopefully when that is down it will hold down some of the dust. It's not a fabric but a sticky substance – like molasses.  It will dry and have a crust.  When it gets wet it will eventually go away.  

First the seed will be drilled down, then a machine will crimp straw in the dirt, and then they will spray the sticky stuff down.

Fran - OU1 – cleaned to industrial levels, but not residential levels.  They are in the process now of cleaning it up.  They need to get a permit from the state to do this work, since it is not a super fund site.  Fran was under the impression that they submitted for the permit, but started work before they got it.   Fran is involved in wells, and making sure the area is zoned correctly for how it has been cleaned (if it's safe for residential vs. commercial use, so city can map it).
 
Fran – Need to look at different areas and take samples from each area.  Met with developer's contractor and talked about where he's thinking of digging.    He will be submitting a formal report with this information.  Will put the dirt taken from this area into areas that will be industrial/commercial.  (Parking lots, roadways, etc).  Question: How are they digging the holes?  Answer: They are submitting the information of how they are going to do it with their report.

As far as the peat moss layer goes -  Fran and the city have heard that it was discovered to be less expansive than they previously thought.  It goes from peat to clay, which is not compact-able.  

Fran's interaction should be done within the next few months and then it will be going to the city.  She will continue to work on the riparian zone and the putting in of some wells.  The wells will monitor over time the plum that's heading to the river, and some that are going towards Murray water.

Riparian zone goes into OU1.  The part around the  wet lands has been decided, but there still may be some part around the river.  No time estimate of when that will be decided.  Fran told her management that it needed to be decided by last June, but that didn't happen.  Special account money will be used.   Wanted to have funding in place and contract ready to go.  She wanted to have the wells in before they seeded.  Not going to happen.  They want the seed to go down as soon as it can.  Wells need to be done sometime soon, since it's been awhile since the last sampling.  Couldn't sample now anyway – with the fill being brought in, but it will be ready for sampling sometime soon.  It's using special account money which makes it more complicated – the state wants to lead.

Tom - The state has not determined who is leading for OU1.   Might become a political battle between state and EPA.  Fran – the money that's left needs to do design for riparean, riparean, clean up, and the design of wells.  Under typical circumstances the state pays for some, but with special account money, the state doesn't want to pay anything.   EPA is worried that the money won't be there for everything if one part takes more money they they had planned.  State has to take the lead for ground water and monitoring – by law it's required that EPA not do it. Midvale city had put in a offer to do the work – Fran put in a recommendation to do this, but it was denied. Question – Can this group (CSFM) send a letter?  Fran – concerned that they will run out of money and won't be able to finish the things she wants to see in – (ex. Riparean zone).  Wants to make sure there are controls in place for the money.

Tom - TAG  groups represents the citizens.  Having the remedy strung out because of this issue may not be a good thing. Recommend the letter advises EPA to continue instead of causing it to drag on.  Also, citizens want the riparean zone to go through.   Fran – wanted to make clear that EPA and State are not “fighting” over the money.  It has to do with the controls – who has them, and what do they say.  She wants to make sure money doesn't slip through people's hands.  Question: If there wasn't enough money for the riparean zone, since it's not a priority, is it going to go through.  Answer: once it's city's property it is up to them.  Fran – one of her main concerns is about the eroding with the river.   As part of the solution to keep things from going into the river, she is hoping to better the situation – make the banks more stable.  

Fran –  Would encourage a decision to be done thoughtfully, not just quickly.  Tom – would like to see things continuing on and moving forward.  Fran – wanted to make clear that she is not encouraging a letter to be written, but if it is going to be done, would recommend that the decision is made thoughtfully.

Rick Battison - Motion to suggest to David May to write a letter expressing concern.  Advise him to contact Tom and get suggestions.    David Colby seconded it.  There wasn't a quorum present to vote on it.  David M. will write a draft for next week's meeting and have a vote for next meeting.   Tom: advised not to wait another month, rather to e-mail it around and get the vote in order to get it out as soon as possible.   Suggested that David M.  could get input from city as well.  City has a lot to say about riparian.


Midvale City Updates

Ray Limb on Sharon Steel
75% sure that they are going ahead, but it's been that way for  6 months.  Nothing new.

On Midvale Slag:
Question: Estimated time frame – Ray : Would like to have the 6 divisions set up by October with the asphalt set for those divisions.  There is a lot of work to be done before then.  Question: Major road does not go through OU1? Answer: that is their understanding.  

Fran suggested developers talk to city to see if it would be appropriate to talk with our group.

Ray – very concerned about the riparean and the establishment of the banks.