MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Montgomery city leaders are asking a dozen businesses and a handful of state agencies to form an alliance to help investigate and clean contamination beneath the city’s downtown neighborhood.
City officials are formulating a plan to address the 55-block Capitol City Plume site and refund $3.5 million the Environmental Protection Agency has spent investigating the area, the Montgomery Advertiser reported (https://on.mgmadv.com/1aV9gM8) Sunday. Contaminated groundwater was found beneath downtown Montgomery more than 20 years ago during construction of the RSA Tower. City and EPA officials have said that the contamination doesn’t pose a health risk to people living and working in the downtown area.
The Downtown Environmental Alliance is the first step in a plan Mayor Todd Strange said he hopes will lead to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management overseeing the site. The newspaper reported that the EPA has identified several downtown businesses and state agencies as potentially being responsible for some of the contamination.
“We feel like this is the best course of action for all involved,” Mayor Todd Strange said. “This has gone on for quite some time and action needs to be taken. The city was never identified as a potential responsible party in this, but because it affects all of us, we felt an obligation to try offer a solution.”
The incentive for businesses to participate in the alliance is facing a remediation plan where the cost is known beforehand versus going through a possible litigation process, Strange said.
Representatives from the businesses are expected to meet with city leaders to discuss the investigation and remediation plan on Wednesday at the County Commissioners’ Court. Representatives from Gov. Robert Bentley’s office have also said some state officials are planning to attend the meeting.
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Information from: Montgomery Advertiser, https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com
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