Title
Gainesville Greens Environmental Contamination Update (B)
Explanation
Soil and groundwater assessments conducted on City of Gainesville Parking Lot 10, the proposed Gainesville Greens site, indicate the presence of dry cleaning contamination above the State cleanup target levels. The contamination is believed to be derived from a former dry cleaning operation once located on the northeast corner of the property. The site is in the State Dry Cleaning Solvent Cleanup Program, but because of the low priority score, it will be years before the State is able to address this site.
The Development Review Board (DRB) reviewed and approved the site plan submittal for Gainesville Greens and expressed concern that: 1) if deep pilings were installed, this could cause contamination to move deeper into soils; and 2) if a building were placed over the contaminated area, access to the contaminated area for the purposes of remediation would not be possible.
The CRA discussed the contamination issue on June 19, 2006 and directed staff to look thoroughly into these concerns and provide the best possible recommendations for resolution.
CRA staff, Equity Ventures Inc.'s consultant Water & Air Research, Inc. (Water and Air), Alachua County Environmental Protection Department (ACEPD), DRB member Steven Boyes, and City Planning staff met in July to outline an action plan to address the contamination concerns. There were two significant outcomes from the meeting. First, Equity Ventures decided to switch to a foundation system without deep pilings to eliminate the possibility of spreading contamination to deeper soils and the aquifer below. The second outcome was an ACEPD-approved plan for Water and Air to conduct additional soil and groundwater sampling on the site to locate a source of concentrated dry cleaning solvents and determine if construction on the site would preclude or hinder future clean up.
Water and Air conducted the assessment in August and concluded in its report that the data from the assessment do not identify a source of concentrated solvents in the vicinity of the former-dry cleaner. This result is consistent with previous testing results. Water and Air wrote in a technical memorandum that the results indicate there is "no compelling reason to select excavation as a cleanup strategy". The absence of a contamination source on the site is significant in that it suggests construction on Lot #10 is not expected to be hindered by remedial actions to remove a contaminant source. Furthermore, according to Water and Air, if groundwater remediation should be required at some point, the State cleanup program can address it using means such as wells combined with appropriate cleanup technologies installed in the areas of open ground that will remain after construction.
ACEPD reviewed the Water and Air report and technical memorandum, agreed with their general conclusions and had several recommendations for the developer. The recommendations require Equity Ventures to: 1) develop a Health and Safety Plan to protect construction workers if they encounter contamination; 2) develop a Waste Management Plan for potentially contaminated soil and groundwater encountered; 3) restrict construction below land surface to no deeper than 27 feet; and 4) properly abandon an existing monitoring well prior to construction. Equity Ventures verbally indicated agreement with these recommendations to CRA staff.
It is the opinion of CRA staff that the two main concerns regarding the contamination are being adequately addressed in light of the recent findings. CRA staff believes that Equity Ventures' agreement with the recommendations of ACEPD is a prudent step to resolve the contaminant issue on the site. Additional detail is provided in the backup.
Fiscal Note
None
Recommendation
Executive Director to the CRA: Receive the written update report from staff.