CC WORKSESSION 05061997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Peder A. Larson April 15, 1997 Page 4 prepared by the MPCA's unbiased consultant, West Central Environmental Consultants, for on- site capping. That amount was estimated as $295,500. Any additional costs should be home by the University, the Hubbard group and the municipalities who will primarily benefit from the redevelopment of the property. We also suspect that the MPCA staff has an interest in pegging the clean up i;osi at the highest possible number because it has negotiated an agreement with the University which requires the MPCA to recover some of its own costs from the de minimis group, rather than the University. Therefore, MPCA staff, to increase its own recoveries from the site, may be inappropriately influenced to select a larger cost of cleanup because that will potentially generate more dollars to pay MPCA costs. The MPCA professes to have no interest in the Group process with the University and does not intend to participate in any cost recovery actions brought by the University. The MPCA ought not get involved in that process indirectly by making valuation judgments that accommodate the developer rather than focus on public health and safety. SUMMARY OF SCHNITZER SITE OPERATIONS The Schnitzer Group has reviewed the Schnitzer business records maintained by the MPCA. We have also interviewed a number of former employees who worked in the yard, in the metals room and in the bookkeeping department. Our document review and interviews revealed critical errors contained within the MPCA's assumptions about the handling of lead, batteries and transformers at the site. To date, the Schnitzer Group's investigation has revealed the following key findings about the Schnitzer operation: 1. Bulk shipments of batteries and other lead received at the Schnitzer facility were transferred from trucks to the metals room inside the main building. Batteries and lead were weighed and accumulated inside the building. The batteries and lead were sold to Schnitzer as products. Schnitzer paid its customers and the receipts used by the MPCA to identify PRPs document these transactions. The main building was located on the South Parcel and is not subject to remediation under the recently- negotiated Response Order by Consent. 2. Schnitzer held the batteries in the warehouse which was locked each night. Other valuable non - ferrous metals were also stored in the metals building. When sufficient quantities of batteries and lead had accumulated, Schnitzer would sell loads and arrange for off -site shipment via rail or truck. We have attached copies of invoices detailing off -site shipments of over 400,000 pounds of whole batteries and lead during the 1977 to 1983 time period (the same time period on which the MPCA bases its claims against the RP Group). The Schnitzer business records contain other invoices documenting over a million pounds of off -site shipments of lead N