HOT SPRINGS -- Removal of the Majestic Hotel rubble that has been piled along Park Avenue since Feb. 27 should begin within 30 days, according to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.
The agency sent a certified letter to Garrison Hassenflu, owner of Park Residences Development LLC, last week accepting his removal plan for the debris from the "Yellow Brick Building," the original and oldest building of the Majestic Hotel complex, which burned Feb. 27-28 and was razed as a public safety measure.
The agency notes that the removal plan states that if conditions of a storage tank suggest that a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment is necessary to determine the possible impact to subsurface conditions, then one will be conducted. The agency stipulates that "once the tank removal has occurred, a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment shall be conducted to evaluate the subsurface conditions."
The assessment should include sampling of the subsurface media potentially affected around the tank for oil and grease, lead and other contaminants, as well as sampling of the tank and the ancillary equipment for asbestos.
Prior to the sale or resale of any bricks from the debris, the agency recommends that a representative sampling of the brick pile, including mortar and concrete, be tested for asbestos, and a sampling plan and analytical results are to be submitted to the agency in a final removal plan.
Hassenflu is to provide the agency a minimum five working days' notice before being in the field to initiate the removal plan, but in no circumstances should the implementation date exceed 30 calendar days from receipt of the conditional approval.
State Desk on 09/16/2014