Cost to put out Bella Vista stump dump fire soars

Staff members with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality install a meteorological station to record wind speed and direction Thursday at the former stump dump site that is burning underground in Bella Vista.
Staff members with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality install a meteorological station to record wind speed and direction Thursday at the former stump dump site that is burning underground in Bella Vista.

BELLA VISTA -- The cost to put out an underground fire at an old stump dump on Trafalgar Road could cost millions more than first estimated, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Thursday.

"We have a fund at ADEQ to help us in these kind of remediation efforts," he said at the Arkansas Municipal League meeting in Little Rock. "It has about $8 million in it." Hutchinson said he was told the project might be in that price range.

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality said in a news release later Thursday it received EnSafe's draft response action plan for the Trafalgar site. EnSafe is the Memphis, Tenn.,-based company hired by the state to help put out the fire.

"I have received the initial report from ADEQ that includes cost estimates for the Trafalgar Road fire cleanup. The $21 to $37 million estimates for excavation are stunning and much higher than the initial estimates of $5 to $10 million. I have directed ADEQ and EnSafe to explore more cost effective alternatives," Hutchinson said in the news release.

"Additionally, we continue to vigorously pursue assistance from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, which will be necessary as we move forward with this project. In the meantime, ADEQ and the Arkansas Forestry Commission will immediately begin work to prepare the site for cleanup," Hutchinson said.

Bella Vista Mayor Peter Christie heard Hutchinson's speech at the Municipal League meeting.

"I knew it was going to be expensive," Christie said. "It's a very complicated situation."

Hutchinson pledged close to $1 million Dec. 28 to start the process to suffocate the fire.

EnSafe's draft was the result of on-site inspections, analysis of available data of the site, and consultation with fire suppression experts. The draft provides seven alternatives with related costs and risks -- ranging from smoke mitigation and fire management to complete excavation and fire extinction, according to the release.

Becky W. Keogh, director of ADEQ, said in the release staff from her department and the Forestry Commission were at the site Thursday to start work on a fire break.

The estimated cost for the preparation work is between $1 million and $1.3 million. The work will be done by EnSafe, ADEQ and the Forestry Commission in coordination with local officials. Preparation work will include clearing trees and other vegetation for a staging area around the site, a 15-foot fire break, an access road and an exploratory trench. The estimated time frame for the work to be completed is six to 12 weeks, according to the release.

The next measures in the plan are to contract with trained experts to mobilize fire control including smoke management and fire response, expedite federal approvals required for the site, construct a necessary support system to facilitate fire control and fire response including debris and hazardous substances management, establish air monitoring program for the duration of on-site work, establish a water monitoring program for the duration of on-site work and to secure funding sources to supplement work plan.

"This is a challenge for all of us," Hutchinson told the Municipal League. "It's not just what's foreseen, but sometimes what's unforeseen that comes into our lap."

Hutchinson said the Environmental Protection Agency has been unable to help because of the partial federal government shutdown.

Firefighters were initially dispatched to the area July 29, where they spotted smoke and what appeared to be the remains of a brush fire, Bella Vista Fire Chief Steve Sims said. Fire Department personnel have said the fire may be burning more than 50 or 60 feet underground.

Tom Judson, the Bella Vista Property Owners Association's chief operating officer, said the association operated the dump on leased land from December 2003 until the end of 2016 when the dump was covered with soil.

Nobody monitored the site the last few years it was open, but staff members would remove trash when possible, Judson said. The stump dump operation was closed Dec. 31, 2016, according to Bella Vista's website. The property is owned by Brown's Tree Care.

ADEQ personnel set up air monitors Thursday at Bella Vista Fire Station No. 2, 8300 Trafalgar Road, and Cooper Elementary School, 2 Blowing Springs Road.

Monitors will record particulate matter levels on a 24-hour cycle. The department will collect and analyze the data and release findings to the public, according to the release.

Particulate matter monitoring measures the amount of solid and liquid droplets found in the air such as ash, dust and smoke. The findings provides a snapshot of local air quality and how it might affect health, according to a news release from the Arkansas Department of Health.

Donnally Davis, with ADEQ, said the monitors will stay until the fire is extinguished.

Preliminary results of monitoring near the fire showed air quality in the "unhealthy" category, according to a news release issued Dec. 12 from the Health Department. Everyone within a half-mile radius of the 8000 block of Trafalgar Road was cautioned to avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency did air monitoring at the former stump dump site Oct. 2 and 3, Nov. 9 and 10, and Dec. 10-13, Davis said in an email Tuesday. The EPA collected 24-hour air samples from five locations around the site, she said.

No air quality testing has been done since Dec. 13, Davis said.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF • @NWABENGOFF

Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality staff install a meteorological station to record wind speed and direction Thursday at the former stump dump site on Trafalgar Road in Bella Vista. The department also installed two temporary ambient particulate matter monitoring stations. Shaun Kitchens, a chemist with the department, said the particulate monitors are the same as those set up at about a dozen permanent sites around the state.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF • @NWABENGOFF

Jim Best with Arkansas’ Department of Environmental Quality installs an air quality monitoring station Thursday at the Bella Vista Property Owners Association’s Harmon Booster Station near Cooper Elementary School. The stations are part of the department’s efforts to assess the public health and environmental impact of the underground fire at the former stump dump site.

Information

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality has launched a Bella Vista community information page on its website: www.adeq.state.ar.u…. The page contains up-to-date information regarding the fire. The department also has set up a designated Bella Vista community phone line at (501) 682-0906 and an email address at trafalgarsite@adeq.….

Source: Staff report

Possible Plans Of Action

EnSafe’s draft response action plans for the Trafalgar site are:

• The site would be secured and smoke mitigation measures (such as water cannon) would knock down smoke as it is generated from vents across the site.

• An infiltration gallery would be installed across the site to introduce water into the subsurface to extinguish the fire.

• The entire Trafalgar Road site would be flooded to quench the fire.

• The Trafalgar Road site would be covered with fill material to smother the fire.

• Actions would be taken to minimize smoke generation and storm water runoff; however, the fire would be managed as a controlled burn with measures implemented to accelerate airflow to the waste for a cleaner, faster burn.

• Action would be taken to minimize smoke generation and storm water runoff. The fire would be attacked usin gmore targeted techniques: burning would be quenched using water and firefighting surfactants (e.g., foams) that improve wettability and penetration.

• Action would be taken to minimize smoke generation and storm water runoff. The Trafalgar Road site would be excavated.

Source: Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality

NW News on 01/18/2019

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