Loading...
03/09/93 Wardell/Dan Johns LetterMarch 9, 1993 U.S. Senator Max Baucus 715 South Main Street Kalispell, Montana 59901 RE: City of Kalispell - Kalispell Pee Wee Baseball Dear Senator Baucus: The purpose of this letter is to respond to a communication your office received from Mr. Dan Johns of Kalispell Pee Wee Baseball. In his February 23, 1993 letter to your office in Kalispell, Mr. Johns expresses his displeasure at not being able to acquire a tract of land upon which could be constructed a baseball complex. The particular tract of land Mr. Johns refers to is a 40- acre parcel which has been used since 1981 for subsurface disposal of municipal sewage sludge generated by the Kalispell wastewater treatment plant. Considering all of the social, economic and environmental difficulties which face today's children, Mr. Johns should be applauded for his efforts at developing a facility which will benefit a youth sports program. However, there are three issues which must be considered and/or resolved before the subject land can be released. First, there is the issue of federal participation in the original purchase of the land. When sludge disposal at the Kalispell wastewater plant became a problem in the late 19701s, the EPA's Construction Grants Program, through the Montana Department of Health and Environmental Sciences (MDHES), assisted in the purchase of the land by paying 75% of the $120,000 assessed value. As part of the agreement in purchase of the land, the property became subject to the Code of Federal Regulations - 40 CFR Part 31.31(c). This section of the rules states "When real property (acquired under a grant) is no longer needed for the originally authorized purpose (disposal of sewage sludge), the grantee or subgrantee will request disposition instructions from the awarding agency (EPA). The instructions will provide for one of the following alternatives:". The rule goes on to provide for three alternatives for land disposition: (1) retain title after compensating the awarding agency considering original participation percentage and current fair market value of the property; (2) sell pllini on Re�yded Paper the property and compensate the awarding agency similar ,to above, and; (3):.Transfer the title to the awarding agency or to a third party approved by the awarding agency. According to 'these rules which must govern the disposal of aU real property purchased with federal grant assistance, leasing the property to Pee Wee Baseball for construction of a baseball complex is' clearly not possible. Any assistance your office can provide in overcoming this hurdle would be greatly appreciated. Second, there is the issue of safety. This site has been used for over a decade as a disposal site for wastewater treatment plant residue. While stabilized sludge from a non -heavily -industrialized city would not typically pose a threat to human health, in this case we must consider the nature of contact between humans and the dues. A spectator need only watch a single game on a rainy day observe how close the contact between soil and player is. In -�-r to get a firm handle on exactly what levels of pollutants may >t at the site, we strongly suggest the city to collect and yze a series of soil samples before they assume that the site ompletely safe for Pee Wee baseball players. As an additional , there are suspicions that when the city was still employing =,Purifax" sludge treatment process (which was abandoned in the -y 1980' s due to unresolvable problems), this tract of land was ui�; for trench disposal of unstabilized sludge. This poses `;I nz scantly greater importance to e questio of whether the site is safe for other uses. Finally, there is the issue of whether the City of Kalispell is no longer in need of the site for sludge disposal. This question has been somewhat addressed by the March 3, 1993 letter from Glen Neier (Kalispell City Attorney) to Steve Pilcher (Administrator of the Environmental Sciences Division- MDHES). In this letter, Mr. Neier identifies several other sites which could be used for sludge disposal in the event that Glacier Gold Compost does not go forward. We feel that the City of Kalispell still needs to develop a contingency plan which identifies and secures alternatives for sludge disposal in this event. It is important to note that it is not the intention of EPA or the Montana Water Quality Bureau to "thwart" the efforts of Kalispell Pee Wee Baseball to develop a ballpark at the site. However, the EPA and MDHES must follow the rules for disposal of property acquired through the Construction Grants process. Those rules cannot simply be ignored because somebody speculates that the land can be put to other use. If your office can be of assistance in resolving the grant issue, and the other questions can be f�=,)rably resolved, the EPA and MDHES would be more than happy to r, ease the property for use by the Pee Wee's. K If you have further questions or commentary on this matter, please don't hesitate to call me at (406)449-5414. Ia: l� kul John F. Wardell, Director Montana Office cc: Dan Johns, Kalispell Pee Wee Baseball Glen Meier, Kalispell City Attorney Dave Schacterle, SRC Robert Babb, Kalispell Director of Public Works Scott Anderson, HES/WQB 3