02/08/02 DI/Does a River Run Through It?Proposed mall site:
oes a river
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By JIM nnANN Some researchers say development could threaten a shallow, fast
The Daily Inter Lake
to a senior scientist with, in Evergreen is the main type of growth," said much wiser to use."
A fast-moving, shallow the University of focus for mall developer Richard Hauer, a 2&year Hauer is mainly con -
aquifer in Evergreen Montana's Flathead Lake.. James "Bucky" Wolford. professor at the Yellow cerned about storm -water
makes the area "an Biological Station. "Our opinion here at Bay research center who discharge from a mall and
extremely poor choice" as An empty field north- the biological station is specializes in rivers and related development that
a location for a super mall east of the intersection of that the Evergreen area is wetlands. "There are could eventually cover
in the Flathead, according U.S. 2 and Reserve Drive nota good area for this other areas that would be more than 2W acres with
sion of the river — idr�fi„ lq �'I Ii' THIS AERIAL view
moving aquifer groundwater that moves of the Flathead River
quickly through a porous y"' «• , shows old surface
buildings and parking -lot foundation of glacial cob- a �� I
asphalt. ble and gravel. Using a s features that some
He explained that network of test wells in researchers say indi-
Evergreen, particularly L Evergreen, researchers h '^ cate a below -ground
lands between U.S. 2 and have documented the flow lattice of ancient
the Flathead River, rests
on an underground exten- See MALL on Page A3
paleochannels,
marked by the
scrolling lines of
trees. Smaller
scrolling depressions
also are noticeable.
Photo courtesy of
University of Montana
Flathead Lake Biological
Station
of water through the aquifer,
into the river and down to Flat-
head Lake..
"The position that we have
taken is that we're not opposed
at all to a mall, per se. That's not
in our purview. That's a politi-
cal decision to be made by the
people of Kalispell and the peo-
�le of Flathead County," Hauer
said. "But the data, and our
understanding of the data, very
strongly implies that the Ever-
green area is an extremely poor
Choice of a place to put a mall."
There is considerable
research quantifying the pollu-
tants that are delivered from
stormwaterdischarge off large
developments and parking lots,
Bauer said.
j "This is not mystery science
on what comes off of parking
lots. This is well-known and
Well -documented," he said. "The
stuff that comes off of parking
lots is nasty. It's not benign, like
a little bit of sand."
Parking lots gradually collect
oils, tire residues, battery acids,
pnti-freeze and heavy metals
until there is a heavy spring
$nowmelt or a major rainstorm.
® ng lot runoff fromproposed- raises concerns
Pollutants are usually swept impacts from a in would be Tom Jentz, director of the Tri- rise to in order to solve," he
off in a major pulse into storm- comparable to those from a 100- City Planning Office, said the said. "It will be more of an issue
water collection systems that ' lot subdivision, and the mall most recent conceptual infor- on this site than it would be on
rely on water slowly leaching will have to meet far more regu- mation provided by Wolford other sites. However, I don't
through soils. But in Evergreen, latory requirements than any outlines a three-phase develop- want to judge a project before
Hauer said, traditional storm- subdivision. ment: an initial building foot- we have a chance to review it."
discharge systems will not be Johnson said the state Depart- print covering 495,000 square Jentz said storm -water dis-
effective. ment of Environmental Quality feet; a second phase adding charge systems are commonly
Even traditional equipment has authorized specific kinds of 200,000 square feet; and a third reviewed for any development
for monitoring water quality storm -water discharge systems and optional phase for tenant They typically must be certified
will not be effective in Ever- that can be implemented expansion that would bring the by a licensed engineer and
green, he said. through different designs. The mall's total size to 750,000 approved by the Montana
"Classic monitoring equip- designs are mainly aimed at square feet. Department of Environmental
ment looks for accumulation of funneling storm -water dis- Using an industry standard of Quality.
toxins and pollutants. In the charge into one or more specific five parking spaces per 1,000 The mall's potential Ever -
case of Evergreen, the (under- locations. The systems can square feet of retail space, a green location has caught the
ground) flow rates are so high involve "separators" and 750,000-square-foot mall would attention of Flathead Lake advo-
that the water is always kept "scrubbers," technology likely come with 26 acres of, cates, such as the Flathead Lak-
fairly clean, but the pollutants designed to separate floating blacktop parking space. ers.
are being transferred down to hydrocarbons from water. There is no doubt that the Chuck Mercord, a member of
the river and to the lake,id he Johnson said it's premature mall envisioned by Wolford the group's board of directors,
said. to discuss particulars of any would attract surrounding has brought Evergreen's
"If they are going to insist on storm -water discharge system, development. groundwater dynamics to the
being in that location, they are' because the design of the mall . "The mall would become a attention of the Kalispell City
going to have to come up with a ' itself has yet to be drafted. power center," Jentz said. "If Council and the Flathead Coun-
unique (discharge system) "We don't even know the size the mall is successful, and it ty commissioners.
design," he said. "They are not of this mall yet," he said. will be successful, it will attract "Our primary concern is the
going to be able to pull some- And Wolford is looking at two a substantial amount of addi- integrity of the water in Flat -
thing off the shelf" other mall locations that are tional development" head Lake," Mercord said. "I'm
Jean Johnson, the contract "very realistic options," accord- Jentz said the nature of Ever- saying (elected officials) need to
engineer working for Wolford, ing to Johnson. "That explains green's aquifer will raise the be aware of these things."
agreed that there are unique why we aren't very far along importance of storm -water dis-
challenges associated with the with the design process — charge sytsem design within the
Evergreen site. because we're not sure where it planning review process.
Yet, he said, storm -water will go." "That's a task we will have to
Reporter Jim Mann may be
reached at 758 4407 or by e-mail
atjmann@dailyiiiterlake.com