The owner of a luxury apartment building in Uptown wants to flood the lower level of an underground parking lot in order to end the illegal pumping of groundwater into the nearby Chain of Lakes.
The proposal by Lake and Knox LLC, the owner of the 57-unit building at 1800 W. Lake St., involves filling the parking level with sand and gravel before sealing it off from another basement parking level that's above groundwater. The company would then build underground parking on an adjacent lot in about a year, using 24-hour valet parking to serve residents during the interim.
The proposal was filed in Hennepin County District Court before a hearing next week on a request by the city of Minneapolis for an injunction to end the pumping. It will be heard by Judge Philip D. Bush, who earlier ruled it was illegal for the apartment building to discharge groundwater through storm sewers into the nearby lagoon between Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles.
The city asked Bush to order an end to the pumping immediately. But if Bush decides to give Lake and Knox time to implement the plan, the city asked for a payment of almost $2,300 a day for using the city sewer and as an incentive to end the discharge quickly. It also seeks a contempt citation of $5,000 per day if there are any violations of the injunction.
Negotiations are continuing, according to representatives from each side. The landlord briefed tenants on its proposal this week, according to a resident who asked not to be identified.
The controversy arose after Lake and Knox obtained city permission to temporarily pump water into the sewer and lagoon to construct the building. But the pumping to keep groundwater below the lower parking level continued without city permission after the building was completed in 2011. The city argues that the pumping is raising the temperature of the lake, creating unsafe ice conditions in the lagoon, and filling the lakes with algae-feeding phosphorus.
The two sides have examined at least a dozen alternatives, ranging from injecting pumped water deep into the aquifer to piping it to the metro sewage system. But all posed insurmountable permitting or financial barriers, according to the developer's attorneys.
Proposed fix isn't cheap
The proposed solution isn't cheap. Preparing the lower of the two basement parking levels so it can fill with water without subjecting the building to destabilizing stress would cost an estimated $1.2 million. The work could be completed by March 31, and until then Lake and Knox wants to continue pumping.