Columbus City Council is questioning the safety of a piece of property at the old Kerr-McGee Pine Yard that is being considered for a future storm shelter.
Mayor Keith Gaskin previously told The Dispatch The Greenfield Trust, which actually owns the site, had pitched the possibility of giving part of the 44-acre property for a storm shelter and recreation center.
The council held Environmental Protection Agency Project Manager Charles King’s feet to the fire about cleanup at the site during a Thursday work session at City Hall.
Beard invited King to the work session to give an update on cleanup efforts at the site, which was formerly a wood products treatment plant run by Kerr-McGee. The EPA declared it a Superfund site in 2015 due to creosote and pentachlorophenol contamination.
The Greenfield Trust received $67 million in a court settlement for cleanup at the site.
King told the council most of the Pine Yard site had been cleaned up, but some remediation remained.
“There is a portion of that is ready for reuse,” King said. “But if you’re standing on 14th Avenue looking into the Pine Yard … there’s a portion in the back rear that’s still got subsurface (contamination) that needs to be addressed. There’s about 15 acres that’s ready for reuse.”
King said if any contamination on the site was contained, rather than removed, the EPA would come back and assess the site at least every five years to make sure it didn’t spread.
There is no need to continue checking the portion of the Pine Yard that’s been remediated, King said, because the old soil had been physically removed and replaced with clean soil.
Ward 1 Councilwoman Ethel Stewart wasn’t convinced.
“We know these chemicals travel miles underground in water,” Stewart said. “There is no barrier to prevent (contaminants) from crossing over to where it’s been cleaned up. … I can’t see the city wanting to get into this land.”
King said there was a monitoring system in place to make sure contamination didn’t spread.
“It is monitored quarterly, at least, and at one time it was monthly,” King said.
Vice Mayor and Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens said he thinks the city needs to wait.
“I don’t think we need to invest in it until the whole site is clear,” Mickens said.
Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard agreed.
“It would be crazy to take it if we don’t know it’s clean,” Beard said.
Vehicle cameras
Ingram Equipment Company Sales Manager Eric Smith and Sales Associate Mallory Edwards pitched in-vehicle surveillance cameras for city vehicles.
Ingram offers a system that installs as many as eight cameras in and on vehicles, ranging from police cars to garbage trucks, Edwards explained. At least one camera is in the cabin, monitoring the driver for signs of distracted driving, smoking, not wearing a seatbelt or other potential safety violations, while another camera is backward-facing. Supervisors can monitor either camera in real-time, and footage from each is stored for as long as six months.
The system also allows GPS tracking of the vehicle, she said.
Edwards said the systems cost an average of $55 per month per vehicle, but that cost varies based on what functions the city wants.
Adding more options adds more cost.
Golden Triangle Waste Service uses the system now, Smith told the council.
Mayor Keith Gaskin told The Dispatch after the meeting the cameras could provide accountability.
“For instance, if we put this on the side-arms in the wards we can calculate the time it takes to get things done,” Gaskin said. “When citizens complain that things aren’t being done, we can go back and look.”
Earlier this year Ingram made a play to sell the city garbage trucks. At that time the city was exploring other garbage collection options because of dissatisfaction with GTWS.
The city eventually opted to stay with GTWS.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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