EPA: Landowners Must Pay $60M For Burnsville Landfill Cleanup
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The federal government has sent out 180 letters to businesses, cities and even school districts.
The letters say they will have to pay the estimated $60-million cost of cleaning up a toxic landfill in Burnsville.
The 140-acre Freeway Landfill looks like a large empty field off of Interstate 35W and Black Dog Road.
The state city and federal government all say the site poses a potential threat to the city of Burnsville's drinking water.
It has also been the source of years of failed cleanup negotiations between the state and the landowner.
The peaceful looking site that borders the Minnesota River covers a toxic base that, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency website, has already contaminated some ground water and is emitting methane gas.
"We want to make sure the groundwater is safe and the Minnesota River stays safe," said Burnsville City Manager Heather Johnston. "Right now the water is safe and we want to keep it that way for centuries."
Johnston and Kirk Koudelka, the assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, say they had been negotiating with the site's owner for years to try and enroll the landfill into the state's closed landfill program, a program that has helped clean up more than 100 landfills at a lower cost. But those talks failed, and the EPA stepped in.
The agency sent out letters last week to 180 entities that they say used this landfill for decades. The letters say they must now help pay for the cleanup.
Included on that list the cities of Burnsville, Apple Valley, Bloomington and Roseville. School districts like Burnsville, St. Louis Park and Richfield are also on the list.
And among the long list of businesses is Republic Airlines, which has not existed as an independent company since 1986. The collection of money for the cleanup and the cleanup itself is expected to be lengthy and costly
"The super fund process is very litigious and litigious … translates into more expensive," Johnston said.
Property owner Michael McGowan disagrees with all of the environmental findings. He says there is no evidence that the landfill site poses any threat or a risk to human health.
McGowan says he has been treated unfairly for decades by the MPCA compared to other landfill owners. And he says he has demanded a face-to-face meeting with the EPA.
And while President Trump has promised to cut staff and funding for the EPA, local and state officials tell WCCO they have gotten assurances that the EPA will move forward with this project.
