The Utah Department of Environmental Quality says the Park City School District does not need to treat contaminated soil on the Treasure Mountain demolition site as hazardous waste, but a local agreement with the Summit County government will require the soil to be disposed of anyway. The state agency, which safeguards air, land and water, sent a letter to the district’s environmental consultant on June 12 stating it concluded a joint investigation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding whether the site qualified for a hazardous waste exemption under state and federal law. Whether waste is legally classified as hazardous or non-hazardous is important because specialists may be needed to clean and dispose of hazardous materials depending on its level of toxicity. Waste that is classified as non-hazardous may still have contaminants, but at a low enough level that they may be disposed of in a traditional landfill. The contaminated soil, which had elevated levels of arsenic and lead, was uncovered by contractors on the property when the district demolished the Treasure Mountain Junior High building to create room for its new sports complex. Dave Noriega with the Department of Environmental Quality previously told The Park Record that heightened levels of arsenic and lead are to be expected in a historic mining town like Park City and that the presence of those materials does not necessarily pose health concerns to the local community. “Perimeter air monitoring has consistently shown lead and dust levels below (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) exposure limits, meaning airborne exposure has not been a risk,” Noriega said in April. “Because the contaminated soil is properly handled and contained under the site’s safety plans, immediate exposure risks to the public are mitigated.” The letter said the district qualified for a Bevill exemption, meaning it does not need to treat the soil as hazardous waste, which often involves more extensive and costly cleanup efforts. The exemption may be granted for a variety of reasons, but it is likely that the Park City School District qualified because of the town’s mining history, as the exemption was designed to make removing industrial and mining waste at its point of origin easier. However, the district still needs to remove and transport the contaminated soil to a landfill because of a 2017 environmental covenant it entered with Summit County. The covenant was created after the Environmental Protection Agency first discovered contaminated soil on the Treasure Mountain Junior High School site in 2014, which led to a federal investigation and cleanup in 2016. The school district filed the environmental covenant with Summit County the following year “to mitigate the risk to the public health, safety and the environment.” The agreement included a provision requiring the school district to remove any materials that fail to meet Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure thresholds, which is a chemical analysis to determine levels of toxicity. The Department of Environmental Quality’s determination allows the district to more easily dispose of the soil, but it does not mean the soil is not contaminated. The piles still failed to meet the threshold outlined in the environmental covenant because of the heightened lead and arsenic levels, meaning the district will need to dispose of the material in a landfill instead of reburying it, as it has done in the past. However, the Bevill exemption will allow the district to remove the soil without classifying it as hazardous materials. If the soil were hazardous, the district would need to take it to a specialized facility and handle it with more care. Without the hazardous designation, the district may take the soil to a permitted Class I, Class II or Class V landfill, which is a cheaper and less intensive process. Three Mile Landfill in Summit County is a Class I landfill, but a county spokesperson said that doesn’t necessarily mean the landfill will accept the soil, adding that it will likely depend on the dirt’s level of contamination. The Department of Environmental Quality requested the district obtain a “letter of acceptance” from the landfill before disposing of any materials, in addition to providing a schedule “for the expeditious removal of stockpiled soils.” The Park City School District has not responded to a request for comment as of Wednesday afternoon. It has also not been fined for the contaminated soil, which Noriega previously said is reserved for “a significant violation, which has not occurred” in Park City. Request for Beville Exemption Determination for Disposal of Soils (ERRC-077-26) – signedDownload The post State agency gives Park City School District exemption for contaminated soil, but local agreement still requires removal appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less