CC Minutes - 09/12/01 Work Session

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B.Work Session: Groundwater Contamination Peter Ruffier of the Public Works Department joined the council for the item. He introduced Keith Henderson, Western Regional Cleanup Sites Program Manager for the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and Chuck Solin, City of Eugene Loss Control and Environmental Program Manager. Mr. Ruffler provided an overview of existing regulations and authorities related to groundwater contamination, noting that authority over groundwater and groundwater contamination generally rested with federal and state agencies. He said the DEQ generally focused its groundwater clean- up activities on sites with the greatest risk of adverse impacts on beneficial uses or human health. The Oregon Health Department had some groundwater protection responsibility under the Oregon Wellhead Protection. The City Code had no provisions related specifically to general protection of groundwater. Mr. Henderson provided a brief overview of how the Department of Environmental Quality evaluated risks to the groundwater. Chuck Solin of the Human Resource and Risk Services discussed groundwater contamination impacts on City projects. Responding to a question from Ms. Bettman, Mr. Henderson confirmed that the owners of a site affected by contamination had the right to use the groundwater on their properties; the Water Resources Department regulates those issues. There was legal redress for people who were so affected. In cases where municipal water was available to the site, that was used to evaluate the current risk and the future likely risk associated with the site. It would be incumbent on the DEQ to ensure the responsible party treated the well water, removed the contamination, or took other means to protect groundwater users, such as wellhead protection systems. The DEQ monitored the groundwater quality. Ms. Bettman asked who paid for the monitoring. Mr. Henderson said that the responsible party does, in cases where one is identified. In cases where the site is a high priority and there is no identifiable responsible party, the State will pay for monitoring. Ms. Bettman thought the information presented to the council was missing recommendations for how the City could address some of the problems that existed in terms of groundwater contamination. Mr. Ruffler said that the City could take direct action in responding to a groundwater threat under current code. It was more common for the City to work with the DEQ on such situations. The City had standing to pursue legal action as allowed for under State statute if it was determined sufficient actions were not being taken. Ms. Bettman said that in several local cases, regulation or action was pending research, study, and monitoring by the DEQ. In some cases, that had started in 1993. She questioned whether such an approach actually did anything to rectify the situation. Mr. Henderson said that in some cases, the time to process a case was very lengthy, and in part it had to do with the relationship of the responsible party with the DEQ. In cases involving an imminent health threat, the DEQ worked with the responsible party to reach a speedy resolution. In other situations, the involved sites were part of the Voluntary Clean-up Program. In those cases, the responsible party was responsible for the time line and clean-up. If the property owner appeared to be lagging, the DEQ could terminate the project and walk away, but that would do no good for the environment. The DEQ had no means to require that the clean-up be done if the case did not involve an imminent health threat. Mr. Henderson said the DEQ had limited resources to do the clean-up itself. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 12, 2001 Page 6 Work Session