Title
Manufactured Gas Plant Off-Site Investigation/Brownfield ("Sprout") Project (B)
Explanation
In January 1990, the City of Gainesville ("City") purchased the Gainesville Gas Company and through that purchase assumed liability for environmental impacts related to the operation of the former Manufactured Gas Plant ("MGP"). At the time of the purchase U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection ("FDEP") had been engaged in a program to evaluate environmental conditions at former MGPs throughout Florida. In September 1992, the City voluntarily entered into a Consent Order with the FDEP to assure EPA that any contamination attributable to the Gainesville Gas MGP site would be delineated and remediated, if necessary.
To date, numerous studies have been conducted on the parcels of property where the MGP operations took place ("on-site"). These studies resulted in the submittal of a Remedial Action Plan ("RAP") to FDEP in December 1994. The RAP recommended: 1) removal and thermal treatment of soils impacted by coal tar constituents and diesel fuel and 2) deferral of groundwater issues until the impacts of the soil removal had been assessed. FDEP approval of the RAP and its implementation is pending the agency's resolution of issues associated with the extent of petroleum impacts reimbursable under Florida's pre-approval program (formerly the Early Detection Incentive program).
In 1997 the EPA and FDEP indicated a renewed interest in pursuing an off-site investigation of MGP impacts on properties south of Depot Avenue, including the subject property, that may have been impacted via the stormwater drainage ditch that runs south of the old train depot and ultimately discharges into Sweetwater Branch. At approximately the same time, the City was awarded a Brownfield grant for the East Gainesville Sprout Project. This project envisions developing certain properties between Depot Avenue and Veitch St...
Click here for full text