Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Media Contact:  Anne Moore  218/302-6605

Brainerd, Minn. --  The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is proposing to remove three sites in central Minnesota from the Permanent List of Priorities (PLP, also known as the state Superfund list).  The agency is seeking public comments on the proposed delistings through March 30.

The PLP includes sites contaminated with hazardous substances that pose a threat or potential threat to public health and the environment.  It is updated periodically as new sites are added or old ones cleaned up and removed from the list.  The MPCA proposes to remove the following sites:

--    Former Brainerd Dump.  This site is located in the northeast corner of the City of Baxter, within a 40-acre parcel on property owned by the Northland Arboretum.  It was operated as a municipal dump for the City of Brainerd from 1905-1969, and continued as a dump for Crow Wing County from 1969-1973.  The site was placed on the PLP in 1990.  The waste is contained in a 35-acre mounded area in the middle of the 40-acre parcel.  Soil vapor and groundwater monitoring on and around the site has confirmed that hazardous substances are not migrating from the site at any levels that would pose a threat to public health or the environment.

--    Burlington Northern Car Shops.  This site, located in the City of Brainerd, is a partial delisting.  The MPCA proposes to remove only two parcels within the 102-acre site from the PLP.  One is a 15-acre parcel known as the Northern Pacific Center Commons, and the other is a seven-acre parcel known as the Stock Building Supply area.  Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company operated on this land from 1870-1983, building and maintaining box cars and locomotives.  These activities resulted in contamination of soils with hazardous substances including lead, mercury, arsenic, other metals, and asbestos-containing materials.  Remaining hazardous materials have been cleaned up or encapsulated on the site.

--    Westling Manufacturing Company.  This site consists of two separate chlorinated solvent groundwater plumes on the southwest side of the City of Princeton.  Westling began using the site in 1972 for remanufacturing and warehousing automotive parts.  Their operations involved using a chemical called tetrachloroethene solvent to clean auto parts until 1999.  From 1999-2005, the site was used only as a warehouse and distribution center.  Results of extensive groundwater monitoring have shown that this site no longer poses a threat to public health or the environment, prompting the MPCA to recommend removing it from the PLP.

More detailed information about these sites and the Superfund program can be found on the MPCA website at www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/waste/waste-and-cleanup/cleanup-programs-and-topics/cleanup-programs/superfund/superfund-program.html.

Public comments on these proposed PLP delistings must be submitted in writing by 4:30 p.m. on March 30.  Comments on the Former Brainerd Dump site should be sent to:
Susan Johnson           
Project Leader               
MPCA                        
525 S. Lake Avenue, Suite 400
Duluth, MN 55802
susan.johnson@state.mn.us

Comments on the Burlington Northern Car Shops and Westling Manufacturing Company sites should be sent to:
Heidi Bauman
Project Leader
MPCA
525 S. Lake Avenue, Suite 400
Duluth, MN 55802
heidi.bauman@state.mn.us