By Mylissa Spradling
Construction News
May/June 1998
The West Virginia Voluntary Remediation Program (Brownfields) took its first steps May 11 when Governor Cecil Underwood and Robert J. Fields, FMC Corporation vice president of environment, health, safety and toxicology, signed an agreement to clean up the former East Plant site in South Charleston.
The Environmental and Safety Communications Department of TERRADON Corporation, Nitro, played an integral role in the agreement. TERRADON coordinated the signing event with FMC, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Governor Underwood's staff and the West Virginia Development Office.
This event marks the first time a site will be cleaned up under the Voluntary Remediation and Redevelopment Act, passed by the legislature in 1996. The Act seeks to encourage the remediation of contaminated properties on a voluntary basis. A 25-member steering committee, consisting of regulators, manufacturers, contractors, engineers, environmentalists and other interest groups, was charged with developing regulations to implement the new statute.
The Voluntary Remediation Program is administered by the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection's (DEP) office of Environmental Remediation. With limited exceptions, all real property in West Virginia is eligible to participate in the program. Excluded from participation are contaminated sites subject to unilateral state or federal enforcement orders, sites that are listed or proposed to be listed on the federal National Priorities List, and those sites where contamination resulted from gross negligence or willful misconduct.
Fields praised the efforts of the WVDEP and other environmental groups.
"The state of West Virginia has taken a common-sense approach in encouraging this site to be returned to productive use by allowing a remedy that protects human health and the environment and supports economic growth," Fields said. "I hope the FMC site can serve as a model for remediation and redevelopment within the state."
Reaching this agreement also marks a milestone for Ken Ellison, WVDEP's chief of environmental remediation.
"There is a huge learning curve with the start up of any new regulatory program, and FMC has been very patient while we work out the details," he said.
Since 1985, FMC has conducted extensive investigations on the property and will continue additional testing and risk assessment through most of 1998.
Ellison stated that FMC has demonstrated the good faith spirit of the voluntary process by conducting exemplary site assessment activities.
Some areas of the site will be ready for redevelopment before the entire project is complete. Jim Bodamer, FMC's site remediation project manager, said that no decisions have been made regarding the types of businesses to be located on the site.
TERRADON and FMC have worked closely with South Charleston Mayor Richard Robb and other city leaders to create an information repository and a Public Advisory Group (PAG).
"The PAG will be an invaluable resource that will help the community monitor site progress and comment on remediation and redevelopment activities," Fields said. "Their advice is being heard at the highest levels of our corporation."
The group meets at least quarterly and acts as a sounding board between FMC and the community of South Charleston on remediation and redevelopment issues. This group is essential to the community involvement aspect of Brownfields legislation.
Though the scope of community input has been solicited by FMC is not mandatory for this type of site under the Brownfields program, Ellison commended FMC for "establishing a public information program that exceeds the requirements of the law."
FMC manufactured chemical products, including bleach, caustics and carbon disulfide, at the site from 1948 until 1985. The property has remained unused since the plant was dismantled in 1986.
Companies interested in participating in the West Virginia Remediation Program must submit a completed application to the DEP and upon approval, enter into a Voluntary Remediation Agreement (VRA) with the agency.
The VRA contains the requirements related to characterizing and remediating the site. All work under the VRA must be performed under the supervision of a licensed remediation s pecialist (LRS).
Upon completion of the work required under the VRA, and the preparation of a final report by the LRS (which certifies that all work has been completed), the DEP Director will issue a Certificate of Completion to indicate that work required for the remediation and investigation of the site has been completed.
Companies that receive Certificates of Completion are protected from further remediation liability under West Virginia law, and from enforcement actions at the state level related to the contamination that is the subject of the VRA, unless an imminent threat to the public exists. These protections are also extended to lenders, developers, contractors working on the site and subsequent owners or operators of the site.
In determining appropriate clean-up levels standards for a site under the program, standard protection of human health and the environment must be met. The program allows the use of risk-based standards in determining appropriate clean-up levels. A guidance manual is being prepared by the DEP, which will set protocols for performing human health and ecological risk assessment.
West Virginia's Voluntary Remediation Program holds great potential for returning prime commercial property to a productive use in a state where developable flat land is at a premium. With continued support from state and federal agencies, as well as environmental groups, the program will continue to help blossom economic development throughout the state. West Virginia's program could well become a model for the nation for economic development and enhancing quality through the remediation of contaminated property.