Fort Smith wants Whirlpool pollution monitored

The Fort Smith Board of Directors approved a resolution Tuesday evening (April 2) urging Whirlpool and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality to quickly clean up a plume of trichloroethylene (TCE) in and around Whirlpool's former manufacturing facility.

The resolution mentioned not only TCE, but "all pollutants," be cleaned up.

"Be it further resolved that the Board of Directs and the City of Fort Smith expect continuous effort and effective communication from both Whirlpool and ADEQ as appropriate to keep the general public appraised of the progress and status of all efforts to remediate this Emergency Situation," the resolution read.

Whirlpool initially sought a groundwater well ban in an area where the company said the TCE had spread, but media reports of the pollution and public pushback that included a visit from Erin Brockovich elevated awareness of the problem.

City Administrator Ray Gosack said while the resolution does not give the city any authority to enforce a cleanup, it makes clear where the city and the Board stand regarding cleanup of the area.

"It puts the city on record as being concerned about what's happened out there and urging the regulatory agency and the violator to work to get it cleaned up," he said prior to the meeting.

Gosack also said ADEQ was taking steps to include the concerns of Fort Smith in testing and remediation of the area, including asking Whirlpool to conduct air tests to confirm whether TCE was coming to the surface through air vapors. ADEQ computer models had previously said TCE would not surface through vapors, which is why it had not required such testing previously, Gosack said.

The resolution passed tonight was created following last week's Board meeting, when Director André Good said the city needed to do more than pass a groundwater well drilling ban in order to show its displeasure with Whirlpool.

Director Mike Lorenz, who represents the south side of Fort Smith where the shuttered plant sits, added an amendment to the resolution, which asks the ADEQ and Whirlpool to provide the Board and the city quarterly updates regarding the progress of cleanup at the site.

The request for the amendment, which was approved unanimously, was based on the fact that communication from Whirlpool has not been forthcoming in the previous 20 years or more since the contamination took place, Lorenz said.

"I just think given the past history of what Whirlpool deems as appropriate communication is not the same as what everyone else does, I think we ought to have some type of specifics in there," he said.

With the resolution passed, Mayor Sandy Sanders said a copy of the resolution would be sent to Whirlpool executives, as well as the ADEQ and Gov. Mike Beebe.

Vice Mayor Kevin Settle also requested a letter also be sent to state and federal elected representatives of the Fort Smith region, including U.S. Reps. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, and Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle, as well as State Sen. Jake Files, among others, requesting any assistance they could provide in resolving this situation. The letter will be signed by all Board members at next week's study session, Settle said.

Lorenz said that he hopes to improve communication between the city, Whirlpool and ADEQ regarding the cleanup, which he said will take many years to complete.

But should the resolution be ineffective and the quarterly reports are not submitted to the city, Lorenz said he would consider asking the city to consider legal action.

"I guess at that point we'd have to speak to legal counsel and see what, if any, options we have as a municipal entity to try and force the issue," he said. "I know as far as the property owners, they have their own legal rights, but I don't know. I truly don't know what the city's rights are…I can't speak for the rest (of the Board), but I would (consider legal action)."

In other business, the Board:
• Approved a resolution approving the Year 39 Community Development Block Grant Budget and the Year 20 HOME Investment Partnership Act Program Budget;
• Approved an ordinance amending the 2009 Unified Development Ordinance, which would allow some offsite parking lots in commercially zoned areas; and
• Approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with Hawkins-Weir Engineers for $48,000 for providing engineering services for the Massard 48-inch Interceptor Sewer Easement Clearing and Access Road Construction Project.