Title
Koppers Superfund Site Expert Panel (NB)
Explanation
The Koppers site was first designated as a Superfund site in 1983. The Koppers site, which is located approximately 2 miles from the City of Gainesville Murphree Wellfield, is contaminated due to past wood treating operations. Due to the nature and extent of the contamination, and the proximity to the Murphree Wellfield, the site presents a significant potential long-term threat to the City’s drinking water supply.
Although the site has been studied extensively since 1983, there had been minimal investigations to determine the depth of the contamination at the site prior to 2001. At the urging of the City of Gainesville, Alachua County and other stakeholders, additional investigations have been performed over the last 3 years by the party responsible for the site cleanup, Beazer East, Inc., to better assess the extent of contamination. These recent investigations have indicated that contaminant source material has penetrated deeper into the ground than had previously been thought. In response to these developments, the City has escalated its efforts to ensure that decisive actions are taken to prevent contamination from reaching the City’s wellfield and for proper cleanup of the site.
At the October 25, 2004 City Commission meeting staff provided an update on the Cabot/Koppers Superfund site and the Commission authorized the engagement of an expert team of consultants to advise the City with regard to the Koppers site and assist the City in ensuring appropriate and decisive actions are taken.
In January 2005 the expert team provided a report with initial conclusions and recommendations on the site. This report was forwarded to the City Commission on January 5, 2005. Since that time, a number of detailed efforts have been required from the team, including detailed review of the groundwater model being used by Beazer, detailed review of site geology and contamination, development of d...
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