Remaining funds for anticipated $1 million clean up of tax-forfeited property sought

Apr. 23—ROCHESTER — Olmsted County Commissioner Mark Thein said it's unclear what can be done with more than 800,000 abandoned tires on

18 acres of tax-forfeited property in Haverhill Township

.

"If someone can't take them, they will head to the landfill," he told state lawmakers Rep. Kim Hicks and Sen. Liz Boldon on Tuesday afternoon.

The Rochester DFLers toured the site, which is the target of legislation requesting $800,000 for environmental cleanup.

The tires, along with a variety of other environmental contaminants, landed in the county's possession in 2020, following a 2017 tax forfeiture and decades of the site being used to store discarded goods.

Thein said the tires were collected by a business that had rented the property and intended to produce a market for the used tires. Today, some of the tires are mulched as piles of others remain throughout the property.

Since acquiring the property, the county has spent approximately $200,000 on fencing the site, removing asbestos, cleaning up petroleum cleanup and conducting environmental assessments, using state and federal funds when possible.

While the bulk of the property at 4613 70th Ave. NE remains unusable, the county is leasing the southern portion to house solar panels, and it sold a separated 4-acre section to Haverhill Township for its new hall.

The $800,000 proposed in bills presented by Hicks and Boldon could cover the bulk of the estimated cost for final cleanup on the remaining 18-acre site, along with demolition of remaining buildings on the site.

While a similar Senate bill failed to get a formal review, the House version remains in play and Hicks said discussions with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency continue.

"At this point, no alternative solutions have been proposed," she said.

Since the legislation was submitted, Hicks said documents found by Haverhill Township board members could point to added state support. She said the documents show that the MPCA ordered the property owner to start addressing concerns in 1992 and worked to make it happen until 1997.

At that point, she said the state agency appears to have planned to seize a trust established by the owner and do the work itself, eventually charging the property owner with any additional costs.

Hicks said it's unclear why the work never happened and whether the funds were seized, but she continues to seek answers, since the county is unable to assess the costs to the past owner.

For now, Boldon said work to raise awareness of the needed work and funding continues with the hope that she can find Senate support to piggyback on the House bill.

"The clock is ticking on what is possible at this point," she said.

If an agreement for funding isn't achieved by the anticipated May 20 adjournment of the legislative session, the contamination spanning more than three decades is likely to continue at least another year.

"If it doesn't happen this year, it will still be here next year," Boldon said.