Freeway Landfill in Burnsville will enter Superfund program after all

The federal government will take over a closed Burnsville landfill after negotiations between the state and the landfill's owner fell apart this week, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) said Thursday.

The 150-acre Freeway Landfill will enter the federal Superfund program, which requires that anyone responsible for putting trash in the landfill — from the landowner to trash haulers to local governments — pay for the cleanup. It's an expensive outcome that, seven months ago, seemed to have been narrowly avoided.

In January, after missing a series of deadlines for negotiating a deal, the MPCA announced that it had reached a preliminary agreement with Michael McGowan, whose family has owned the site since the 1960s.

"Was it a possibility it would fall apart at some point? The answer is yes," said Steve Mielke, physical development director for Dakota County. "Because it wasn't a finalized, signed, closed landfill agreement. It was an agreement to come to agreement, if you will."

The plan was for Freeway Landfill to enter the state's Closed Landfill Program once some final details and legal issues were ironed out. The state would shoulder the nearly $65 million cost of the cleanup, which was expected to start in February. But the MPCA and McGowan couldn't agree on how to move forward with necessary steps, including a replatting of the land.

MPCA Assistant Commissioner Kirk Koudelka told McGowan in a letter Thursday that he would be informing the Environmental Protection Agency that efforts to deal with the landfill failed.

"Under these circumstances, I have reluctantly concluded that the Superfund process is our only remaining avenue to ensure Freeway Landfill is cleaned up and does not pose a future environmental or human health risk to neighboring communities," Koudelka wrote.

"It operated before there were as many environmental protections and regulations as there are today," said Dan McElroy, a former state legislator who negotiated with the McGowans as Burnsville mayor during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The trash still in the landfill — including chemicals and other substances that today would be illegal to dispose of there — has raised concerns because of the site's proximity to the Minnesota River and a quarry that provides drinking water to Burnsville and Savage.

The company currently mining the quarry pumps out millions of gallons of water a day.

When the mining stops — likely in 15 to 20 years, assuming everything goes as planned — the water table will rise and groundwater will come in contact with the trash.

Michael McGowan has said the MPCA cleanup is unnecessary, and raised concerns about whether entering the Closed Landfill Program would allow him to continue operating a garbage transfer station on the site and eventually develop some of the land.

The cleanup process that state officials planned was expected to take about five years and involved moving the trash onto a protective liner to prevent water contamination.

Under the Superfund process, the EPA will come up with a cleanup plan and pay for it, then seek reimbursement from a list of responsible parties.

If this turns out anything like other Superfund sites, though, things could get complicated when the responsible parties try to pull in additional business, cities or other entities to help pay for the cleanup. The resulting legal battles would only add to the overall cost.

"The longer you wait on this project, the cost will keep going up," Koudelka said.