Minutes - Council - 07/14/1988 - Public Hearing

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comments made and concerns registered to create a record. That record is what City Council must base their decision on. The testimony will close at 10:30 p.m. and for that reason it is in everybody's best interest to not repeat somebody else's testimony. Once the hearing and comment period are closed and the record is complete, City Council will adopt findings of fact. The City doesn't know when all the answers to all questions will be available and they are important to have before making a decision; therefore, a special City Council meeting has been tentatively set for July 27 at which time Council will possibly make a decision regarding Atlas' request. Comments from the public this evening will be limited to 5 minutes; written comments will be received at City Hall until July 21, 1988. Joe Grabowmki - Wenck Associates, Inc. - Wenck was retained by the City's consulting'engineers, Hakanson-A~derson, to review the environmental issues surrounding Atlas' proposal. Wenck reviewed the Atlas proposal, minutes of previous public hearings and the proposed conditional use permit; and also consulted with a health risk assessment firm. The questions were addressed: 1) Are the issues that have been raised by the public and the City valid? 2) Are there any additional issues that should be of concern? 3) Have the issues raised been adequately addressed by the applicant? In response to the those questions: 1) Of the issues raised, the health risk issue has the greatest merit based on the proximity of the residential area; 2) Additional issues that have not been specifically raised are: a) trial burns before contract burns in order to make sure it meets all specifications under various operating conditions, particularly with the number of types of waste involved; b) are heavy metals a concern and will they be monitored in stack emissions; c) will the applicant be preparing a detailed waste handling plan along with spill control plans; 3) the applicant has not presented data demonstrating the adequacy to operate within acceptable health risk levels in their incineration and waste handling process; this data is readily available and many incinerators are burning similar waste in a safe manner; most of this data will more than likely be a requirement of the MPCA environmental assessment worksheet and permitting process; it is in the best interest of the City to have that data and health risk assessment to use in evaluation of the proposed project. Mr. Hartley - Ramsey submitted a letter to MPCA containing 30 questions regarding environmental and health factors relating to Atlas' proposal. Draft responses to those questions are available. Ann Jack$om - MPCA - Regarding MPCA's permitting process, the first step is that the applicant submits an application. The permit application contains general information. From there, MPCA requests the applicant to provide information regarding waste characteristics, air emissions inventory, air dispersion modeling, ash characteristics and disposal of ash. Ail of these items combined together go into the health risk assessment. The health risk assessment determines the maximum amount of exposure an individual is faced with if everything operates according to plan. Ail of these items are combined and put into the environmental assessment worksheet. The EAW is a decision guidance document and reviews the environmental impact of a proposal. When the worksheet is completed and MPCA feels it has answered as City Council Public Hearing/July 14, 1988 Page 2 of 15