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| Tuesday, October 20, 2009 |
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The Huntsville Times
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
By Challen Stephens
Times Staff Writer challen.stephens@htimes.com
$5M cleanup set at Searcy Homes
Contaminated area around 7 buildings tied to old plant site
State agents found potentially hazardous fuel byproducts near public housing downtown, launching a cleanup that could take a year and cost up to $5 million.
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management this month found the contaminants in the soil around seven buildings at Searcy Homes, which sits near the old railroad depot.
The property, once home to the Huntsville Manufactured Gas Plant, now belongs to the Huntsville Housing Authority. On Monday, during a board meeting, the authority made public the findings and announced a three-way agreement to clean up the area.
The Environmental Protection Agency will supervise the cleanup. Alagasco, which long ago merged with the company that operated the plant, will hire the cleanup crew and foot most of the bill. The authority will handle public relations and relocate families during the cleanup.
Susan Delenne, a spokeswoman for Alagasco in Birmingham, said that the investigation could continue for some time but that removal of the contaminants should be completed by the end of 2010.
The authority board will contribute $300,000 for a cleanup estimated to cost $3 million to $5 million, said Jarred Taylor, an environmental lawyer working for the authority.
Taylor told the board that state agents found the contamination during routine sampling. He said the contaminated area is limited to seven buildings on three acres at Searcy, and EPA agents found no need to relocate residents before the cleanup.
But residents were given an option to move immediately, he said, and 25 chose to wait until the soil cleanup begins.
According to an authority statement, the site contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a byproduct of fuel processing. Huntsville Gas Light Co. used coal to manufacture gas on the property from 1872 to 1902. The city and other companies used the same process at the site until 1946, when a company began to work with propane.
The city bought the land in 1949, and the plant came down during the 1960s. In 1967, the authority bought the land and opened Searcy four years later.
The EPA recognizes numerous kinds of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, several of which are listed as possible or definite carcinogens. It was unclear Monday which kinds were found at Searcy.
Taylor referred a question about the exact contaminants to the statement. The EPA spokeswoman did not immediately return calls. And John Wilmer, attorney for the authority board, would not provide copies of the cleanup agreements, although they were approved by the board during its public meeting Monday. Wilmer contended that the agreements were not public until signed by the EPA and Alagasco.
Delenne, the Alagasco spokeswoman, said in her 25 years with the company she has not heard of a similar cleanup operation for manufactured gas.
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Original Huntsville Times article here. |
