Federal Environmental Cleanups: Community Control Can Be the Solution

by | Feb 9, 2016 | Blog | 0 comments

The official title of our presentation at the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA) meeting last fall (October 2015) was, “Avoiding the Bad Environmental Ending: The Former Military Base.” What was appealing to many of the municipal lawyers and other officials was the idea of local control and, more specifically, the federal government maintaining their financial commitment while allowing the local government to lead the effort.

Precedent-Setting Municipal Control

This project has been called “precedent setting ” … and not just by us since the “amicable litigation” concluded. The following is an extremely-brief explanation of why it’s been viewed as so unique.

While turning over control of the project to the local entities, The United States Department of Justice agreed to pay 90 percent of the costs ($9.4 million). The project involved a remedial investigation and feasibility study to develop a clean-up method for dealing with trichloroethylene (TCE) in groundwater at a Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS).

The far-more detailed, 32-page explanation can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

Cleanup at FUDS can progress much quicker when there is local control of the investigation and remediation.

Senior Dragun scientists discuss site investigation strategy in Salina, Kansas

Cleanup Efforts Moving Much Faster

The idea of taking control of these cleanups has an obvious appeal, especially when the Federal Government maintains their financial commitment. We’ve also heard, off the record, that since putting this in local hands, the process has moved much, much faster. The faster this is done, the better it is for the community and the prospects for local redevelopment.

Based on a recent invitation we received, we anticipate “telling this story” again this summer.

Below you can download the IMLA Conference submission (the 32-page explanation). It provides the project details from three perspectives: 1) the City Attorney, 2) the Environmental Consultant (Dragun), and 3) the Environmental Attorney.

If you are interested in the details about the next presentation or would like more information about the unique approach at this FUDS, contact Jeffrey Bolin, M.S. (jbolin@dragun.com) at 248-932-0228, ext. 125.