| OCR Text |
Show Superfund doesn't apply to mine sites, city official says I 7 l I-,;. ".: 5 i 7j by CHRISTOPHER SMART Record staff writer The Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program is not designed for hard-rock mining sites such as Prospector Square, Assistant Assis-tant City Attorney Craig Smith said following a Washington, D.C., factfinding fact-finding trip. . Smith returned from the nation's capital Oct. 4 with information and pledges that will aid the municipality municipali-ty in its battle to take Prospector Square off the Superfund study list. The journey to Washington, D.C., was aimed at gathering information on the EPA's Superfund program and to make sure the agency gives a listing "due process" before adding it officially to Superfund. Park City's Prospector Square residential and commercial complex com-plex was built atop a mine tailings pond dating back to the 1800s and the . ground beneath it has higher-than-normal levels of lead,' badmium and 1 arsenic. It is expected to be on the EPA's National Priorities List for Superfund study a listing the city vehemently opposes. City officials' believe too little data was used to approve ap-prove the listing. Smith said during his trip he learned learn-ed the EPA has expertise when it comes to chemical waste, "but not much on hard-rock mining." He contends con-tends the Hazardous Ranking System developed for Superfund "was never intended to be used for mining sites." Smith said during the 60-day com-, ment period before the site attains an actual listing, the EPA will take arguments in favor of and against the action. In most cases, the comment com-ment period is a formality, but part of Smith's mission was to make sure the EPA will consider new data and arguments, which will be supplied by the municipality. The 60-day comment period began Sept. 18. To ensure the Prospector listing gets that due process, as outlined by law, Smith sought the support of Utah's congressional delegation. "Our purpose in using the political people is not to call thunder and lightning down on EPA, but to make sure due process takes place," Smith said. Smith said Utah Sens. Jake Gam and Orrin Hatch, as well as Utah Rep. Howard Neilson, support the . removal of Prospector from (he up-Hated up-Hated National Priorities List, which m ding hard-rock mining sites do not fit the Superfund criteria for environmental en-vironmental hazards that was developed for chemical dumps. Further, the city maintained it has da(a from area wells that reveal no contamination of groundwater from the tailings. Also while in Washington, Smith met with professional lobbyists for suggestions on strategies the municipality might use to get Prospector Pro-spector off the list. Smith found the city is proceeding in the right direction, direc-tion, according to those advisers. The assistant city attorney is quick to note the advice was free and Park City has not, as yet, hired professional profes-sional lobbyists. In addition, Smith attended a Superfund conference held by a private institution geared to educate attendees on environmental law. Smith said one former EPA official of-ficial told him any cleanup of Pro- spector that may be required will be i faster and "cheaper If done locally rather than through the agency. To date, residents and businesses in Prospector have spent $1.4 million in landscaping aimed at covering the tailings. The municipality also received a federal grant through state channels for streambed work on Silver Creek which officials here say will alleviate any potential problem of tailings discharges into the creek. The question of financial responsibility respon-sibility for any cleanup of the taili ings may be moot, considering those actions already taken. But Smith said he is not taking any chances. He said he will make a Freedom of Information In-formation request from the EPA asking for clarification of the financial finan-cial responsibility aspect of the listing. Thus far, the EPA has not been straightforward on the financial responsibility issue, Smith said. During a question-and-answer meeting last month in Park City, EPA District 8 Superfund Director Bill Geise and State Environmental Director Ken Alkema said there is a possibility Prospector property owners could be liable for some . costs of any tailings cleanup, should it be necessary. , But later, those officials told the Record the chances of property owners being held financially responsible for any cleanup is remote. Assistant city attorney Craig Smith found EPA lacks expertise on mining sites. ment of Health revealed four children had elevated blood lead levels one year ago. Subsequent testing of Silver Creek water by that agency resulted in Prospector's listing on the updated National Priorities List last winter. Silver Creek borders Prospector Square. But following debate on whether hard-rock mining sites should be governed by Superfund, the site was taken off the list in March only to be listed again last month. Upon closer examination of the listing process, however, city officials of-ficials called foul. According to state and federal documentation, only one water test was used as the basis for the listing. That was taken from snowmelt while Silver Creek was frozen. Officials at the EPA said data from soils compiled by the Utah Geological and Mineral Survey were used to build a "model" indicating the potential for groundwater pollution. pollu-tion. That model was used to determine deter-mine Prospector should be eligible for Superfund money for further study, they said. Park City officials, however, called call-ed the data "unscientific," conten- ranks 860 sites nationally for environmental en-vironmental study and cleanup. Recently, Gam co-sponsored an amendment, known as the Baucus amendment, to the Superfund authorization bill. That change would require more study of hard-rock hard-rock mining sites before such listing -is possible. He explained that the purpose of the Baucus amendment is to make the EPA consider mining sites differently dif-ferently than it does chemical dump sites. Last week, Garn's environmental aide, Bob Weidner, said Gam would use his Senate subcommittee position posi-tion overseeing EPA appropriations to work for administrative removal of the Park City site from the updated up-dated National Priorities List. Gam is a Park City resident. Prospector Square and its residential residen-tial area, Prospector Park, came to the attention of local and state officials of-ficials following a study of area soils by the Utah Geological and Mineral v Survey contracted for by the municipality in October 1983. - Blood screenings of Prospector Park children by the Utah Depart- |
