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LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 2-19-85 PAGE 3 C. Ice/water runoff from landfill spray irrigation system. The Engineer stated that he made an inspection of the spray irrigation system on February 13, 1985. He found, that the containment dike has been and continues to be overtopped to the south and a cut has been put through the dike on the east which allowed some water to flow east at one time. No water is presently flowing east. The Engineer's concern is that the water that is overtopping the dike to the south is leaving the landfill property and creating a pond on the Mervin Nippolt property. The cut in the east dike has allowed some water to leave the containment area but it has not left the landfill property nor has the water entered the City Park Pond system. Another concern is that water which may still contain some chemicals (the non-volatile chemicals) is now leaving the landfill property. The VBWD conditioned the Counties' permit for the work by limiting the discharge to 250 gallons per minute or the infiltration capacity of the soil, whichever is less. Obviously, the winter time infiltration capacity of the soil has been exceeded and the operation is in violation of the VBWD permit. Washington County and the MPCA are aware of the situation. The Engineer discussed the situation with Mike Ayers who said he has met with Mr. Nippolt. The Counties have agreed to reimburse Mr. Nippolt for any crop damage in the spring. Other than crop damage, there doesn't seem to be any other concern by the Counties, Mr. Nippolt, or the MPCA. Mr. Ayers stated the Counties plan to reinforce the dikes and create some new terracing next year to eliminate this problem for next winter. Mr. Ayers feels that with little snow cover this year, the containment area is frozen and not allowing the water to percolate. Last winter they had no problem. The Engineer recommended that the City ask the Counties to respond to the City's concerns and provide information on alternatives. For example, would shutting off the gradient control well cause the water table to return to its natural slope and re -introduce chemicals into residential wells? It could very well be that the temporary pond on Mr. Nippolt's property is the lesser of the two evils. Mr. and Mrs. Nippolt were present and expressed their conerns over the potential damage to their farm land. If the water leaves the ponding area, it will hit the flat land and drown out four or five acres. Morgan stated he is concerned with the water leaving the landfill area. If the Counties are willing to negotiate with Mr. and Mrs. Nippolt and satisfy their concerns, he would agree that there is nothing that can be done until spring. However, the dyke should be reinforced and all precautions should be taken to prevent water from leaving the landfill area. The Engineer stated that the Counties feel that as long as the water does not leave the landfill site - rather than being contained to the prepared site for the irrigation, they are in compliance with their agreement. Dunn stated that after visiting the site, he feels that the hole in the dyke was cut before the thaw. It is a clean cut, so it had to be