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01-18-1996 - Special Meeting - Minutes• • • 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 Minutes of January 18, 1996 E 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 • the successors of the property, and that BKK waives any right to modify, rescind or set • 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. Minutes of January 18, 1996 W 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. • is Minutes of January 18, 1996 4 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 Minutes of January 18, 1996 9 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. Minutes of January 18, 1996 0 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. • ' or St a Herfe t ATTEST: Cil;j-C�et Be r