I have just sent the following letter to the Gainesville City Commission and to the City Manager.

Robert

 

 

 

Re:       USEPA Record of Decision re Koppers/City of Gainesville Land Use Designation
 
January 23, 2009
 
Madam Mayor and Members of the City Commission,
 
As you are aware, the United States Environmental Protection Agency is currently in the process of drafting its Record of Decision regarding the cleanup standard to be required on the 90-acre Koppers Superfund Cleanup Site.  The requirement could be to either industrial or residential cleanup standards.
 
In association with the joint City/County Commission meeting last May 1, the City Commission unanimously passed a resolution urging and requesting the EPA to require a cleanup of the site to residential cleanup standards.  This would help to reverse the current and continued saturation and penetration of contaminants on the site, and would allow for redevelopment of the site to a more desirable and appropriate use in the future.
 
I have just been informed that the issuance of the Record of Decision could come as early as March.
 
I have also just been informed that a special City Commission meeting is tentatively scheduled on March 9 to discuss changing the land use designation on the parcel to something other than industrial.
 
Crucial, if not pivotal, to the decision by the EPA regarding the cleanup standard required on the site is the land use designation on the parcel.  A land use designation of something other than industrial could yield a significantly different cleanup standard requirement than the current industrial land use.
 
Clearly, the City Commission needs to determine the appropriate land use designation BEFORE the EPA issues its decision on the cleanup standard.
 
I therefore ask the City Commission to:
 
1)         Immediately inform the appropriate EPA officials that the Gainesville City Commission is currently in the process of considering changing the land use designation on the Koppers parcel to something other than industrial, based upon the Goals, Objectives and Policies of the City of Gainesville Comprehensive Plan, and
 
2)         Request that the EPA delay issuing its Record of Decision until such time as the Gainesville City Commission determines the appropriate land use designation for the parcel, and
 
3)         Reiterate to the EPA the City of Gainesville's strong desire that EPA require the site to be cleaned up to residential cleanup standards--because there would otherwise be little hope of reversing the continued contamination, and little hope for future redevelopment of the site to a more appropriate and environmentally sensitive land use.
 
I trust the City Commission understands the time-sensitive nature of these matters, and that this is a one-time opportunity that must be utilized to its fullest.
 
Sincerely,
 
Robert Pearce
President, Stephen Foster Neighborhood Association