The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About1990 Resolution No. 086RESCWl'IOO 00. f {p SDllES CF 1990 A RESCWl'lOO Al1l'IDUZING AN INCREASE IN THE. CDl'llUBtTl'IOO TO THE I.OIRY cxw.ITIOO FOO THE PERFCEMAICE CF 'l1IE REMEDIAL INVESl'IGATIOO/FFA5IBILITY 91UJY (RI/FS) Nr THE LOiRY LANDFILL SUPERFI.IND SITE FRCM 'l1IE BI-<:I'IY WAS'l'DiATER TREA'lMENl' PLANI' FtW FOO BI-<:I'IY I S PARTICIPIITICN IN LOiRY LANDFILL SUPmroNIJ SITE FRGI TIIE BI-<:ITY WJ\STEliA'l'llR TREl\'lMl:Nl' ruND FOO AN AM:llJNT NCYI' 'IO EXCEED $514 ,BOO, WIIEl1FllS, the Bi-<:ity Wastewater Treatnent Plant has been sent a special notice and nnned dS a potentially rosponsible party in oonnection with the u:,,,ry Landfill SUpcrfund Site; and WflEREAS, the Bi-<:ity Wastewater Treat:Jrent Plant has been sent an Adninistrative order on Consent fran the Ei,vi.roomantal Protection Pl]ercy (E.P ,A,) requiring it to negotiate with the E,P ,A, for work on one phase of the cleaning up of r.o,,ry Landfill SUperfund Site; and WHEREAS, the estimated cost to the Bi-<:ity Wastewater Treat:Jrent Plant to CClll)ly with the E.P .A.' s l\dninistrative Order a, this part of the 'f.o,,ry Landfill SUperfund Site clean--up project was $200,000 for the subsurface li<> 1i,;ls and shallow groundwater q,erable unit, which was appropriated by Res<.>1 •Jtion No. 62 Series of 1988, with an additional $~3 ,000 for the deep grou\<lwa ter O.U. appropriated by Resolution No. 53, Series of 1989; and WIIERFA'l, the recent fund request fran the Coalition of $71,500 will exceed the previously approved contribution cap of $253,000 and requests above this arrount will not be paid, unless the increase in the contribution is approved; and WHEREAS, funds are available in the Sewer Fund, but have oot been budcjeted for 1990, funds are included in the 1991 Bua:iet; NOi, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED DY TIIE CITY CXXJICIL CF 'l1IE CITY CF ~, COL<llAOO' THAT: The City of Englewood approves the incroased oontributio.1 to the 'f.o,,ry Coalition fran the Di-City Wastewater Treal:ment Plant Fund for Ri-<:ity's participation in the operating unit for the cleaning up of the u:,,,ry Landfill Superfund Site to the total S\.11\ of $257,400 for the City of F>:iglewood and approves the appropriation of $514,800 fran the Di-<:ity wastewater Treat:Jrent Plant Fund for the i3i-<:ity's participation in the cleaning up of the [Dilr'J Landfill Superfund Site, the incroase by this Resolution will be $130,900 for the Ci ty of Englewood. AllCP'lm /IND APPROVID this 19th day of Noventler, 1990. Patricia H, Crow, City Clerk I, Patricia H, crow, City Clerk for the City of &lgla«Xld, Colorado, hereby certify the above is a true OOf1t of Reaolutiat No. &, Seri• of 1990. ~~&~ PatrcaH. crow DATZ November 19, 1990 INU~IAT!D BY STAP'P' SOURCE ISSUE/ACTION PROPOSED COUNCIL COIOIUNICATION AP,;,HOA ITEM SUBJE 11 (C) Bi-City Supervisory Committee Stewart i-·onda, Director ot Bi-City Lowry Coalition Add itional Contribution The action proposed i s to approve by reso lut1c111 a 'I'. incre..:su in the 1.·01,tributlon to the Lowry Coalition for the performance ,,f r t-P. R~li:1 llal lnvestigat i on/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) at thll> :-:w i.:y Landfill b i ... tfo n, '1<1.te !r om the Bi -City Waet ewater Treatment Plant to a not to exc f:!ed a1,10._,,1· c ~ • 'i 1 1 000. ,,,......._ PRIVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION Council has been br ie fed on numerous occael.o·.t1 regar .. ang o u r potential and substantial liab ilities associated with the Lowry Land fill issue: -Th& City entered i nto an Administrative Order on Consent as a potentially Responsible Part y (PRP) at t h e Lowry Land~ill on September 29, 1988. -The City joined the Lowry Coalitio n to p e.:form the Remedia l I nvest igation/ Feasibility Stu1y (RI/FS) at the Lowry Landfill on September 2 9, 1988 , and the Coalition agreement has been amended several tire s. -The City obta ined technical assistance from GeoTrans , Inc ,, and an agreement to ■hare tho ■e technical serv ices with the City of Lakewood. STAFF JIHALYSIS The cities of Litt leton and Englewood , designated as Potentially Respons i ble Partie ■ (PRPa) at the Lowry La ndfill site, joi ned the Lowry Coalit ion t o perform the RI/FS work on the Subsurface Liqu ids and Shallow Groundwater Operable Un i t and the Deep Gr oundwater Operable unit at the site. The work is being performed under the "eupervis J on " of the U.S . Environmental Protection 1\gency (EPI\). The reaaona and benefits of joining the Coa lition have been presented at several council meetings and at udy sessions. The e ■timated cost of performing the RI /FS has increased from appro ximately $9,000 ,0CO to approximately $18,000,000 (■e e letter from Hill & Robbine dated 9/14/90). The cities' percentage cost of the work is 2.86\ and ha . resulted in a request from the Coo1lit ion fo r addit i onal funds, estimated to be $300,000 , Approval of the !und ■ will continue active participation in the Coalition and maintaining aome control in the performanc e of the Rl/FS work. Thia control i ■ adviaab le , ■ince the EPA will perform the work if no one else does a nd the t o tr.l 001t if thi ■ happens will be considerably greater than th6 11 ur •·1t nt est .l.m•1 ~• !rom the Coalition. Since the total cost of c leanup, including the ,H /ts wo r k , ""Ul be recover ed from the responsible parties, any funda contribute d &l t t,i e t l r.i wil l be credited in the final settlement . Th• recent fund request from the coal ition of $71,500 will e .• tiaa d the previoualy approved contribution cap of $253,000 . Requests above this orr,,,,.rn t will not be paid , unle»a the increaae in the c ·•ntribnt l on is approved. Altho ugh t he cities are only required to seriously conside r requ&M'G for increased contri~u r ~:n e , ar:t i ve partic i pation in the Co alition will pro bab ly be in jeopard/, , I t.he i nc rease l e not approvdd and the benefits o f be i ng in the coalition as the we, :k J 1f be ing done will be lo ■t. The cities of Littleton and lnglewood have been designated as PRPs in the Low ry Landfill cleanup through their rol e in the Bi-City WWTP. Digeated sewage sludge from t he plant was t ransported to and d ispoeed of a t the landf il :.. i n the l a te '70s and the early '80'e . The cities have participated with other ,nu .iicipalitiee a nd private sector interests in negot Lat ions with the EPA regardi 1.; t he cleanup work at the landfill and the liability associated with the cleanup. Man y of these negotLationa have been t h ~o ugh a group of PRP s known as the Lowry Coalition . The agreement forming the Lowry Coalition recognizes the spe.::la l sltua tion of city me mbers o f the Coalition, particularly regarding the commitme nt of funds. Th• o agreement does not require the cities to au omatically accept r .• c ,:immit to an increase in the contribution or an open ended amount, but only commLts the cities to seriously consider cost increases above an approved contribution cap . The present coat cap of ::;253,000 is based on the original estimate to perform the Rl /FS on two of the operable units at Lo wry : the Subsurface Liquids and Shallow Groundwater Operable Unit and the Deep Groundwater Operable Unit . The cities ' portion of the cost is calculated from t he percentage (by volume) of material deposited in the landfill by the cit i es, whi ch i s 2.86\. Staff is wo rk ing to have the determination of percent revised to include toxicity, as well as volume in the event the cities are determined to be responsible parties . Inc lusion of toxicity will lower the cities percentage since the material disposed of i s not toxic . Staff is also working to reach a settlement with the EPA based on othec polic i es (E.G., the municipa l settlement policy and de minimis status). Some of the work performed as part of the RI/FS effort is being used to support these positions. Progress in these areas, how o ver, has been slow. The RI/FS work has no connection to the litigation with the insurance carriers in the Lowry situation . ThtJ amount of the increase in the contribution cap is $300,000, which would bring the total cap to $553,000 for the RI/FS. The increase would be split 50/50 with the city of Littleton, or be $150,000 for each city. Fund& are available in the sPwer fund, but have not bean budgeted tor 1990 . Funds are inc!uded in the 1991 budget. O.«WID W. II0 9D1N ■ 11 0 9 &111 T P'. IO U. b.NNI ■ M . MDNTOOMIMY 110.......,_D L. WU.OOll MAIIN J . WAONall WUlDY N. 111.0011 OAV1DN , FIN& Rick DeWitt, Esq. City Attorney City of Englewood 3400 south Elati Englewood, co 80111 Larry Berkowitz City Attorney City of Littleton 2255 w. Berry Avenue Littleton, CO 80165 HILL& RoolJINS , P.G . . ,noRN l 't 'J AT LAW I• 0 DLAKII: IITRll:T DUILDINO 14 4 1 IUOIITr:ENTII STRl&T ur:Nvr:n. OOLORAUO eoeoa -1eno September 14, 1990 Re : Lowry Coalition Additional Contributions Dear Gentlemen: As you may recall, the Bi-City Wastewater Treatment Plant committed itself to a primary contribution to the Lowry Coalition in the total amount of $253,000 for the deep and shallow groundwater operable units. That amount represented the Cities• approximately 2.86\ share of the estimated $9 million to c omplete the initial phase of the deep and shallow gr oundwater OUs. The Lowr-; Coaliliu11 a 11Ucipates that its initial budge t will be reached on or about October 15, 1990, and additio,,al contributions will be required of its members. The Low r y Coalition anticipates, based upon additional site charactarization necessary to fully determine the nature and extent of contamination at the s i te, an additional $9 million will be required to drill wells t o test the efficiency of the barrier wall at the site, to te s t the s oundness of the confinlng zone between the deep and shallow groundwater zones, etc. .tick Dewitt, Esq. L•rry Berkowitz, Esq. Sllptambar lJ, 1990 Po,ga 2 Under the tal'llls of the PRP agreement governing the relationship among the members of the Lowry Coalition, the municipal members ct the Coalition (Metro Denver, Lakewood and Littleton/Englewood) are not obligated to contribute to any additional costs beyond their primary contributions; however, they are obligated "to consider seriously" any requests for such additional funding. Attached !s a schedule o f projected assessments for additional wo r t., Page one reflects the total amount of contributiono tow a rd the total budget of $10 million (which includes the $9 million to date), and p•~e two reflects each Coalition member's individual cor.t ributl nr1 t oward the additional approximately $9 million for add itiona l s i te characterization. As you can see, Littleton/Englewood share o f that amount would be $261,800 total, or $130,900 for each of the Cities. Pages three and four reflect additional cont ributions that would be required in the event that Metro Denver elects no t t ~ participate in the request for additional contributions, Me trv Denver's ability to contribute additional funds may be hamper~d because it is likely that Metro Denver will receive speci11 l noti.c e to conduct the soils operable unit and will be required t o divert its resources c to that operable unit. Consequently, ~ontr ibutions have been projected to a ccount for such an event. As you can see, - Littleton/Eng l ~wood's contribution unde r t hat scenario would be $290,900 total, or $145,450 per city . I recommen d that the Cities approve additional funding in the total amoun t of $J00,000 to account for the contingency that Metro Denver a n perhaps Lakewood do not provide the additional funding requested, with the further 11ndersta nding that that amount will be reduced commensurate with fu ndi no provided by the other u1unicipalities. '!'he reasons for my recommendation are simple. First, the Lowry Coalition's activities represent what may well be the most effective cost-saving measure available to PRPs at t he Lowry Landfill Site . By working to properly characterize the site, the Coalition will be in the best position to develop a remedy that is both technically effective and cost effective . For instance, a s',ilar group at the Hardage Superfund Site near Criner, Oklahom ~ w~a able to convince a federal district court earlier this year to reject the government's proposed $150 million remedial action for that site and adopt its own remedial action estimated to cost approximately $60 million based upon site characterization activities similar to those now being conducted by the Lowry Coalition. Second, based upon our experience with the Hardage Superfund Site, it appears that the .. _;. Rick Dewitt, Eaq. t.arry Berkowitz, Eaq . Septe abar 13, 1990 Page 3 ■ajor player• in the Lowry Coalition , LJL., Coors, Shattuck, etc. will play a substantial role in the ultimate litigation involving allocat ion ot remedial costs. It is to our advantage to continua to cooperate with thoaa entities and engender whatever good will we can in the avant we are later engaged in allocation litigation with those antitiaa. Finally, as with our initial primary contril:.ution, any costs expanded toward the deep and shallow grcuntwatar OUs are costs that will be deducted from any ultimate remedial costs assessed against the Cities. Pl.ease do not hesitate to call if you have any questions regarding the foregoing matters. Sincerely, /! f/t/1-Jd),. UI .L~~ Ronald L, Wilcox RLW:cp (' Stewart Fonda ...._,,, Schedule A Interim Funding Formula (Metro Denvar Participating Fully in New Assessment) Adolph Coors Company · Conoco Inc. syntax Chemicals, Inc. s.w. Shattuck Chemical Company •Matro Denver Wastewater Reclamation District Amax Research, Development, Inc . The Gates Rubber Company Hewlett Packard Company Asamera Oil (U.S.), Inc. Sundstr,,,d Corporation •Littletc. -Englewood IJi-city Wastewate · Treatment Plant *City of Lakewood International Business Machines Corporation •special Members -,_ Total contribution $ 5,176,800 ·2,21a,aoo 2,278,800 2,278,800 1,aoo,000 862,200 862,200 "18,400 518,400 518,400 514,800 257,400 136.BQQ $18,001,800 t of Total contribution 28. 76' 12.66t 12.66t 12.66' 10.001 4 .791 4.79t 2 .881 2.881 2.881 2.86t 1.431 .761 100 .011 0 ; ·••'•' .,. New Assessment n, (Matro Denver Participating Fully in New Aasasament) Priaary New contribution ...A.ss aasmant Adolph Coors Company $ 2,532,200 $ 2,644,600 Conoco Inc. 1,114,100 1,164,700 · syntax Chemicals, Inc. 1,114,100 1,164,700 s.w. Shattuck Chemical Company 1, 11 I, LOO 1,164,700 •Matro Denver Wastewater Reclamation District 885,500 914,500 Amax Research & Development, Inc . 422,100 440,100 The Gates Rubber Compa i., 422,100 440,100 Hewlett Packard company 253,300 265,100 Asamera Oil (U.S.), Inc . 253,300 265,100 Sundstrand Corporation 253,300 265,100 0 •Littleton-Englewood Bi-City Wastewater Treatment Plant 253,000 261,800 •city of Lakewood 126,500 130,900 International Business Machines Corporation 62,~QQ §2.~QQ $ 8,811,100 $ 9,190,700 •special Members Schedule A Interim Funding Formula (Matro Denver Not Participating in New Assessment) Adolph Coo rs Company Conoco Inc. syntex Chemicals, Inc . s .w. Shattuck Chemical company •Matro Denver Wastewater Reclamat i on District Amax Research & Development, Inc . The Gates ~~bber Company Hewlett Packard company Asamera Oil (U.S.), Inc. Sundstrand Corporation •Littleton-Englewood Bi-Cit y Wastewater Treatment Plant •city of ;,akewood Interna•.,onal Business Machines Corpo:r ~! l on *Special Members Total contribution $ 5,469,000 2,407,400 2,407,400 2 ,407,400 8r,5, 500 910,900 910,900 547,700 547,700 547,700 543,900 271,900 144. 500 $18,001,900 I or Total .conw~ 30.3801 13.373' 13. 373' 13 .3731 4.9191 5.0601 5.0601 3.0421 3.0421 3.0211 l .5101 .sou 99.9981 0 0 Naw Aa ■■as■ant (Matro ~•nvar Not Participating in Naw A~••••••nt) Adolph Cccra company Conoco Inc. syntax Chemicals, Inc. s.w. Shattuck Chemical company *Matro Denver Wastewater Reclamation District A■ax Research, Davelopment, Inc. The Gates Rubber Company Hewlett Packard Company Aaamera Oil (U.S.), Inc. Sundstrand Corporation *Littleton-Englewood Bi-City Wastewater Treatment Plant •city of Lakewood International Business Machines Corporation *Special Members Pri■ary contribution New 61111smel\t.._ $ 2,532,200 $ 2,936,900 1,114,100 1,114,100 1, ll.4, 100 885,500 422,100 422,100 253,JOO 253,JOO 253,JOO 253,000 126,500 67.500 $ 8,Sll,100 $ 1,293,300 1,293,3!)0 1,293,300 0 488,800 488,800 294,400 294,400 294,400 290,900 145,400 77. 000 9,190,800