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http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_23036453/ramsey-countys-tcaap-purchase-finalized-at-28-million# Page 1 of 2 17/04/2013 11:37 AM TCAAP Superfund site now belongs to Ramsey County By Frederick Melo fmelo@pioneerpress.com TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press Posted:TwinCities.com Despite objections of some neighbors, Ramsey County has completed the $28 million purchase of the remainder of the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills -- the state's largest Superfund site. How will the land be redeveloped? That remains to be seen. Carl Bolander and Sons Co. has been hired to proceed with environmental cleanup as the 427 acres are transferred into the county's hands and out of the control of the federal government. "We've already closed," county board Chairman Rafael Ortega, who led negotiations on the contract, said after commissioner met Tuesday, April 16. "It's a done deal. I signed all of the paperwork yesterday." County officials hope to clean up the contaminated land within the next three to five years so that it can be sold for private residential development. Skeptics, including some members of the county board, maintained that putting the county in the chain of title for a polluted property was an unusual move, and local taxpayers would be left on the hook for what should be a federal cleanup and redevelopment project. As part of the deal with the federal government, however, the cost of environmental cleanup will be deducted from the purchase price, leaving the sale cost at $4.9 million, county officials say. Leading up to the purchase, U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., raised tough questions about the plans, without publicly withdrawing her backing for the process. "I have been contacted frequently by Ramsey County residents who have voiced concerns and questions about the sale," McCollum wrote in a letter to County Manager Julie Kleinschmidt. Ramsey County hired the law firm of Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty and Bennett to ensure "the county avoids potential liability arising from the United States Army's prior use of the site." The two-part sale that closed Monday involves the initial purchase of 397 acres that previously had been cleaned up to industrial standards. The remaining 30 acres has "residual soil contamination," and that land will be leased from the federal government until the environmental remediation is finished. "Once the cleanup is complete, Ramsey County will take title to the leased property," according to a letter from the law firm. Even after the property transfer, "the federal government will retain liability for groundwater remediation and certain other environmental liabilities." The county bought environmental insurance as an additional safeguard. The TCAAP site has been the subject of political battles and failed development dreams for decades. In its entirety, TCAAP comprises nearly 2,370 acres in the northern third of Arden Hills. The former World War II-era ammunition manufacturing site was placed on the Superfund list in 1983. Currently, the 1,500 acres west of Lexington Avenue comprise the Arden Hills Army Training Site,. Another 173 acres are maintained by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Ramsey County and Arden Hills for a public works facility and Arden Hills City Hall. An additional 112 acres form the Rice Creek North Regional Trail, and the rest was declared surplus by the federal government in 2002.