By Kim McDarison
Addressing the Fort Atkinson City Council Tuesday, June 15, City Engineer Andy Selle said the process to purchase three parcels of land, comprising the former Loeb-Lorman scrapyard, has been completed by the city and a second phase to evaluate the site for contamination is ready to commence.
The parcels now under city ownership are located at 115 Lorman St., 600 Oak St., and 205 Hake St.
The city extended its offer to purchase the parcels from 2L Loeb LLC in December of last year. The offer came with two components, the first extended to the seller a lump sum of $182,000, with the land’s remaining value, estimated at $550,000, to be used tor site remediation. Any monies not used for remediation will be returned to the seller, according to city documents.
Documents presented to council at the meeting indicate the first-phase environmental study was completed in January.
On June 15, the council approved a proposal submitted by Franklin-based Terracon Consultants, Inc., at a cost not to exceed $25,900 to perform the second phase of exploratory work.
According to its proposal, submitted June 10, the company, along with several others, responded to a request for proposals presented on May 21.
Information provided to council by Selle noted that the city had received four responses to its request for proposals including those submitted by Giles Engineering, TRC Inc., and Sigma Group. Scope of proposed work and associated costs varied, with Giles Engineering proposing to create 26 soil borings and take 12 water samples at a cost of more than $200,000 and TRC Inc proposing to create 10 soil borings and take three water samples at a cost of $25,442. Sigma Group proposed 23 soil borings and 9 water samples at a cost of $33,470.
In a memo to council, Selle wrote that the cost of the Phase II environmental study is covered under the city’s CDBG grant. The State of Wisconsin Community Development Block Grant reimburses funds spent on approved projects.
Within its proposal, Terracon outlined the following “scope of work,” including 17 soil borings and 14 water samples, that would be performed as part of the “Phase II Environmental Assessment” of the former Loeb-Lorman approximately 12-acre site.
Soil borings:
Terracon proposes to:
• Create borings (designated P-1 through P-4) along the west side of the 115 Lorman St. and 205 Hake St. parcels to evaluate the potential migration of contaminants from DB Oak Ltd., as well as contaminants from on-site sources including the former scrapyard operations and a historical use of fill. Borings also will be located near a fluid collection sump associated with a former storage pad.
According to Selle, the DB Oak Ltd. space is the former site of Thomas Industries. While manufacturing activity no longer takes place there, he said, the building is still standing and used for storage. The building is located “immediately west of the former Loeb-Lorman site.”
• Create a boring (designated P-5) at the northwest corner of 205 Hake St., to evaluate the potential for migration of contaminants from the former 10,000-gallon “tetrachloroethene AST,” which was located to the west on the DB Oak Ltd property, as well as contaminants from the scrapyard and historical fill.
• Create a boring (designated P-6) on the south side of the 115 Lorman St. parcel to evaluate soil and groundwater conditions.
• Create borings (designated P-7 and P-8) on the 600 Oak St. parcel to evaluate the potential of migrating contaminates from the former petroleum bulk plant that was located to the north, and a potential of contaminants from a former coal pile, as well as scrapyard and fill contamination.
• Create a boring (designated P-9) on the northeast corner of the 115 Lorman St. parcel to evaluate a potential of migrating contamination from the former automobile operations located on the 205 Hake St. parcel, and contamination from a former auto storage area, as well as scrapyard operations and fill.
• Create a boring (designated P-10) in the eastern portion of the 205 Hake St. parcel to evaluate fill.
• Create borings (designated P-11 through P-13) located adjacent to buildings on the 115 Lorman St. parcel to evaluate the area in terms of such contaminate as oil and antifreeze.
• Create borings (designated P-14 through P17) to be located throughout the 115 Lorman St. parcel to evaluate the presence of contaminants, including those which may have formed near a down-gradient former pad and fluid collection separator and a former tank and collection sump.
Water samples
According to the proposal, Terracon will construct a “temporary groundwater sampling point” within each soil boring.
“If groundwater accumulates, groundwater samples will be collected,” the proposal states. “If groundwater does not accumulate in the temporary points within two hours of installation, Terracon will return to the site no sooner than one week after installation and attempt to collect groundwater samples,” the proposal continued.
Soil and water samples will be tested for VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds).
Reports
According to the proposal, Terracon will produce a “Phase II ESA (environmental site assessment) Report,” which will outline the site investigation and its results. The company will also include its recommendations for remedial actions. The report will include laboratory analytical reports, soil boring logs and photographic logs.
According to Terracon, The city’s request for proposal “did not indicate whether a development plan for the site has been developed, but indicated ‘The property will be cleaned up to an industrial level as defined by WDNR (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources) statutes. The end goal of the effort will be to obtain a WDNR closure in the least expensive manner.’”
To that end, the proposal states, “Remedial action options will be identified and evaluated in general accordance with (DNR statutes) using the conceptual site model.”
A preliminary remedial action plan, addressing impacts from soil, groundwater and vapor, will be included within the report.
Timeline for proposed work
Within its proposal, Terracon offered the following timeline of events: upon a notice to proceed issued to the company between June 28 and July 2, the company will schedule a project kickoff meeting between July 5 and 9. It will next begin project field work between July 12 and 23. The company anticipates receiving receipts of completed lab results between July 26 and Aug. 6, with a draft report to be presented to the city undergoing preparation between Aug. 9 and 27. A final report is anticipated to be issued to the city between Aug. 30 and Sept. 3.
The proposal noted that the company anticipates drilling activity to be underway for three weeks, and laboratory results to be returned to the company within 10 days after submittal.
Work at the site is anticipated to take place Monday through Friday, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
In a followup interview, Selle told Fort Atkinson Online that the contract with Terracon has been signed and work will commence in accordance with the company’s proposed schedule.
After the report is submitted in September, he said, next steps for the project will involve returning the space to open or “pad-ready condition” in anticipation of selling the land or building something new.
“Once we know what’s there and how to deal with it, we will demolish the majority of the structures on the site,” he said, adding that the property will next need to sit as open space for five years.
The above city-produced chart compares the various companies responding to a request for proposals for a Phase II environmental study of the approximately 12-acre former Loeb-Lorman scrapyard site.
The above map produced by Terracon Consultants, the contractor hired by the city to perform a Phase II environmental study on the former Loeb-Lorman scrapyard, shows the site and borings that will be used to draw soil and water samples for contaminate testing.
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