01-18-1996 - Special Meeting - Minutes•
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IN4191911112181
JOINT MEETING OF THE
WEST COVINA CITY COUNCIL
AND THE
WASTE MANAGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMISSION
January 18, 1996
The joint meeting of the West Covina City Council and the Waste Manage-
ment and Environmental Quality Commission was called to order at 7:37.pm
by Commission Chair Santell in the City Hall Council Chambers, 1444 W.
Garvey Avenue, West Covina. The Invocation was given by Commissioner
Hedlund and the Pledge of . Allegiance was led by Commissioner
Ketteringham.
ROLL CALL City Council
Mayor Herfert, Mayor Pro Tem Touhey, Council -
members Manners, Wong
Absent: Councilmember McFadden
ROLL CALL Commission
Chair Santell, Vice Chair Hedlund, Commis-
sioners Ketteringham, Massarotto, Polich
City Staff
Starbird, Wylie, Miller, Gardner, Collier,
Samaniego, Berry
Interagency Steering Committee
* Santos -Prior: United States Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
* Lavinger, Winans: California EPA, Dept.
Of Toxic Substance Control (DISC)
* Kelly: California EPA, Office of Environ-
mental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA)
* Vergets: California Regional Water
Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region
* Delaney: South Coast Air Quality
Management District
* Crist: California Integrated Waste
Management Board (CIWMB)
* Samaniego: California Integrated Waste
Management Board Local Enforcement Agency
(LEA)
* Miller: City of West Covina, Environ-
mental Services
Chair Santell stated that before the quarterly
reports would be heard, Mayor Herfert had an
announcement and she asked him to speak.
Mayor Herfert reported that today was an
historical day for West Covina. Two years
ago, the City entered into a legal dispute
with BKK Corporation over the closure date of
the landfill, as established in aMemorandum
of Understanding executed in 1985. Today, a
stipulated agreement has. been reached with
BKK, executed by both entities, and filed' in
court this morning. He felt it was a win/win
situation in that the landfill would be closed
no later than September 15, 1996 and done so
in a safe, efficient manner. He gave a brief
history of the actions taken in regards to
this issue. He commended the efforts of the
RACCOON group and the citizens of West Covina
for attending meetings and voicing their
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concerns throughout the ordeal. He particu-
larly commended the City.Manager for weaning
the City from the BKK revenues over the last
several years.
• Councilmember Manners agreed that this agree-
ment was a long time coming and was good for
everybody. She reported on the events which
precipitated the MOU. The MOU was preceded by
a gas migration incident affecting residences
at the south end of the landfill. The City
attempted at that time to close the landfill,
but was not allowed to by court order. BKK
expended a lot of money in complying with the
mitigating requirements to clean up the inci-
dent as mandated by the various state regula-
tory agencies. It was at that time that BKK
approached the City, requesting relief from
its business license fees. Councilmember
Manners credited past Councilmember Shearer
with noting the fine bargaining position in
which the City found itself: the City had
something that BKK wanted and BKK had some-
thing the City wanted, and it would be a good
time to effectuate an agreement. With the
help of the then Transition/Waste Management
Commission, the MOU was developed with lang-
uage agreeing to a closure date of ten years
or sooner. It was felt then that the MOU was
unequivocal. As time grew nearer to the
November 195 closure date,. BKK contended its
validity and the City took them to court.
City Manager Starbird related the goals and
objectives over the last three years in trying
to reach settlement of the MOU litigation with
BKK. He outlined court actions and mandated
settlement negotiations from the initiation of
the June, 1993, lawsuit up through today's
agreement filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Mr. Starbird reviewed three documents dis-
tributed to each of the Councilmembers and
Commissioners: 1) a copy of the Stipulation
and Judgment (the document filed in court), 2)
a copy of an agreement with attachments
executed by BKK and the City (not part of the
court filings), and 3) a letter from the City
Engineer to BKK concerning the north step -out
area.
The Stipulation and Judgment provides for
the closure of the landfill as no later than
September 15, 1996. It is absolutely uncon-
ditional. There are no references or ties to
any of BKK's current business transactions.
It further stipulates that the judgment runs
with the land, is forever binding on BKK and
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the successors of the property, and that BKK
waives any right to modify, rescind or set
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aside the judgment for any reason whatsoever.
The Agreement deals with the physical
nature of the landfill, reflecting the City's
concernsof the physical impact on the sur-
rounding residents: grading, landscaping,
drainage, screening, etc. Mr. Starbird refer-
red to the conceptual grading plan, displayed
on the board, as' to what is permissible and
what is not, pointing out the four main areas
of the BKK property.
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Mr. Starbird concluded his remarks by
stating that a special citywide edition of the
TODAY newsletter will be released and a slide
presentation developed for interested com-
munity groups.
Chair Santell thanked the Mayor and the City
Manager for the information and commenced the
quarterly reports from the Interagency
Steering Committee Members.
BKK INTERAGENCY STEERING COMMITTEE QUARTERLY REPORT
Lillian Kelly - OEHHA
Ms. Kelly offered her congratulations to
the City of West Covina on the closure agree-
ment reached with BKK today.
She responded to questions posed to her
at a previous meeting: a) questions and con-
cerns regarding cancer clusters may be refer-
red to Dr. Wendy Cozen of the California Tumor
Registry for the Los Angeles .region at (213)
342-1639 and b) questions regarding cancer
statistics and incident rates may be obtained
from Cancer Information Services for this area
at (310) 794-0545.
Carmen Santos -Prior - EPA
Ms. Santos -Prior gave a brief overview of
the EPA in relation to the Conservation and
Recovery Act. She then presented an update on
the Ambient Air Program.
Steve Lavincer - DTSC
Mr. Lavinger stated that DTSC is the
"guardian" of the Class I portion of the
landfill. DTSC's current plan is to come out
with a draft postclosure permit during the
first half of this year. Today's events with
the closure agreement may require DTSC to
revise that schedule.
Allen Winans - Geologist for DTSC
Mr. Winans reported that BKK is still
working on the Inter -remedial Measures Study
and still performing some Phase IV site
investigation work. These two areas of work
incorporate the installation of several wells
and the decommissioning of other wells. His
office continues to monitor BKK's monthly
leachate pumping tests.
Rick Vergets - Regional Water Ouality Control
Board
Mr. Vergets stated that his board regu-
lates ground water monitoring programs re-
lating to the Class III portion of the land-
fill and offers support as to how these pro-
grams relate to the Class I portion. He has
been working on waste discharge requirements
for operation of what they thought was going
to be the north area step out. Since that is
not to be (with the recent stipulated agree-
ment entered into by the City and BKK), they
will be working with DTSC and EPA on require -
meets for one unifying groundwater program
that will cover the entire site.
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Dennis Delaney - SCAQMD
Mr. Delaney stated that SCAQMD audits
emissions into the ambient air from stationary
sources, and under the provisions of District
Rule 1150.1 - the emissions into ambient air
from active landfills. He reported that
during the last quarter there were twelve com-
plaints and no Notices of Violations were
necessary regarding those complaints., How-
ever, one Notice to Comply was issued in
response to a complaint filed by the LEA
regarding surface emissions from the top deck
down drains in excess of permitted limits. A
reinspection was con -ducted and BKK is now in
compliance.
Tim Crist - CIWMB
Mr. Crist reported that with the
announcement made earlier, he hadn't much to
report. However, he will be working with the
City and BKK on the closure and postclosure
process in complying with state requirements.
Steve Samaniego - LEA
Mr. Samaniego stated that his reports
have centered on his weekly inspections and
complaints received. His most recent inspec-
tion revealed BKK is in full compliance. The
only outstanding violation is the one relative
to the onging Solid Waste Facilities Permit
Revision issue, which will now be resolved due
to the recent agreements reached with the
City.
Mike Miller - Environmental Service Director
Mr. Miller explained that his role is
enforcing the UUP conditions and monitoring
the. site for compliance with the standstill
agreement on the ridge lines that predate the
agreement reached today. He related a Notice
of Violation that was issued January 5th
regarding a occurrence on December 13 wherein
mud and debris were found on the street from
the recent rainstorm.
Public Comments Chairman Santell opened the meeting to com-.
ments from the audience and the following
spoke:
Jean Arneson Jean Arneson, 1116 Donna Beth, asked a ques-
tion regarding the monitoring wells and a
question regarding soil samples from the 1992
mud flow.
Mr. Winans stated that the tests of the
monitoring wells have resulted in clear water.
Ms. Santos -Prior responded to the soil sample
question, noting that it was a low priority
issue for the EPA and could get back to Ms.
Arneson.
Nancy Adin Nancy Adin, 2633 Maureen Street, noted her
involvement with the BKK issue for many, many
years and couldn't be happier about the agree-
ment reached today. She felt the south slope
was not addressed in the agreement because it
surrounds the Class I portion of the landfill,
which has been closed for years. However, she
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would like that area to be replanted with
additional vegetation.
Royal Brown Royal Brown, 2153 Aroma Drive, complimented
' the City Council and the Commission on today's
agreement. He commented on a decision pending
before the Water Resources Control Board con-
cerning background water at Puente Hills. He
encouraged monitoring of BKK's main water
sheds, of which there are three.
Council Comments Mayor Herfert asked if radiation monitoring is
conducted at the landfill. LEA Samaniego
responded that radiation falls under federal
regulations. In addition, radiation would
show up in the groundwater monitoring tests
and if there was a suspicion of radiation,
Hazmat would be alerted.
Commission Comments Commissioner Massarotto asked about the level
of exposure for any workers at the site. Ms.
Kelly stated that the occupational standard is
much less than that regarding residential
exposure, which is why OEHHA is more concerned
about residential exposures.
Commissioner Ketteringham expressed his
appreciation to Ms. Kelly's work on the risk
assessment study. Unfortunately, when it was
presented last week, the meeting was sparsely
attended. He chastised the Tribune for neglec-
ting to give it proper attention in the news-
paper.
He was encouraged by Mr. Vergets' com-
ments that the Regional Water Quality Control
Board would be working with the EPA and DTSC
on a groundwater control program for the
entire landfill site.
Mr. Ketteringham asked for a clarifica-
tion regarding the temporary sampling well
near McDonald's on Amar/Azusa. Mr. Winans
responded.
He hoped at the next meeting, financial
assurances could be addressed. He also asked
for the re -engineering of.the south slopes to
be addressed at the next meeting.
Commissioner Polich noted that he was still
concerned about contaminated soil being used
for ground cover and asked AQMD to address
that.
Ms. Adin suggested that the City look into
subscribing to World Wide Web. A lot of
information could be made available about the
landfill and the surrounding issues.
• Mayor Pro Tem Touhey asked Ms. Santos -Prior
• could provide estimates of financial assur-
ances that would be necessary for. closure of
the landfill and estimates for final closure
of operator industries and what the bill is
now. He believed there was a gap of a couple
hundred million dollars.
Ms. Santos -Prior said that it would be
addressed at the next Interagency Steering
Committee meeting.
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Chair Santell thanked the Interagency Steering
Committee members for their information. She
requested Mr. Miller to schedule a joint.
meeting with the Planning Commission for a
• discussion as to future directions.
Chair Santell asked if the Council wished to
make a motion. Mayor Herfert replied in the
negative and thanked the members of the Inter-
agency Steering Committee. He looked forward
to the members of the ISC working together on
the closure of the landfill.
Motion to adjourn Mayor Herfert asked for other comments of the
the City Council Council. Hearing none, motion by Manners,
seconded by Touhey to adjourn the City Council
at 9:10 pm. Motion carried 5-0.
Chair Santell noted that there was more
business scheduled for the joint bodies.
PRELIMINARY AND PARTIAL FINAL CLOSURE PLAN AND POST CLOSURE MAINTENANCE
PLAN, BKK LANDFILL, CLASS III DISPOSAL AREA
Mayor Herfert remarked that with the agree-
ment reached today, it was not necessary at
this point to discuss this as it was going to
change. Mr. Miller concurred.
Commissioner Ketteringham asked for Council's
indulgence as he had several comments he
wished to share with the Council. He had the
issue of recycling agendized for a discussion
with the Council. However, since Council was
soon to take leave of this meeting, he relayed
his concerns about composting, recycling, and
the Athens MRF proposal as it relates to the
commercial recycling plan.
On another matter, Dr. Ketteringham
reminded the Council of the annual awards
given by .the Commission to deserving individ-
uals, groups, or businesses of West Covina who
actively participate in environmental issues.
Mr. Miller responded that City staff is
already looking into composting through a task
force chaired by Athens Disposal. In relation
to the MRF, it is being analyzed and critiqued
at this time. The matter will be taken to the
Council on February 6 and the Commission will
receive a copy of that report.
CITY COUNCIL ADJOURNMENT
The City Council acted
upon the adjournment
motion made earlier and
left the meeting at
9:20 pm. The Commission
continued with their
meeting.
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