05/11/1992 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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e IV. PUBLIC HEARING CONCERNING HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE DISCHARGE AND CLEANUP ORDINANCE City Manager Mike Gleason introduced the topic and said the council is sched- uled to act on this proposed ordinance at its June 8 work session. Dave Nuss, Department of Public Safety (DPS), presented the staff report. The release of hazardous substances into the environment may present imminent and substantial threats to the public health, safety, welfare, and the environ- ment. In some, but not all cases, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency {EPA} or the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality {DEQ} become involved to ensure cleanup of contamination. Due to the limited resources of those agencies, they do not always have the ability to immediately respond to the release or identification of hazardous substances which threaten the public health, safety, and welfare. The purpose of this ordinance is to minimize those threats by ensuring the following: 1) the prompt identification of discharges of hazardous substances into the environment, including old dis- charges which continue to contaminate the environment, and 2} the implementa- tion of removal or remedial actions. Therefore, the authority vested in the City under this ordinance would be viewed as a last resort, should the DEQ or EPA fail to take action for whatever reason. Responding to a question from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Nuss said proactive efforts are taken to prevent or eliminate any discharge of hazardous substances and that the proposed ordinance would specifically be for reacting to such events should they occur. ~ Responding to questions, Mr. Nuss said that incidents in which the City were to actually respond would be situations in which the DEQ or EPA could have responded, but did not. For example, in an incident involving the removal of barrels containing solvents that were left by a business, the DEQ did not immediately respond because the barrels were not leaking and did not present an immediate danger. He said the DEQ is in support of the proposed ordinance and that the ordinance would not alleviate DEQ's statutory responsibilities. Mr. Boles requested information on whether the City, if it responded to an incident in which the DEQ or EPA did not act for whatever reason, could re- cover costs from either agency if it was unable to do so from the responsible party. Responding to a question from Mr. Green, Mr. Nuss said the ordinance would have no effect on businesses that are already under notice of remediation from the DEQ. Mr. Robinette requested information about whether the City would incur some liability under the ordinance if it did not respond to a situation in which the DEQ or EPA also did not act. He asked if an ordinance could be drafted that would allow the City to have the ability to initially respond as needed in emergencies but not necessarily administer remedial action to avoid poten- e MINUTES--Eugene City Council 7:30 p.m. May 11, 1992 Page 4