Ogden official: Capitol Square contamination doesn’t pose imminent threat
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- The former Forsey Laundry and Cleaners site in the 800 block of 25th Street, photographed Tuesday, June 13, 2023. Ogden officials are putting together a plan to remediate ground contamination that originated at the site, part of the planned Capitol Square development. It’s also known as the 4-C Laundry parcel.
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- The former Forsey Laundry and Cleaners site in the 800 block of 25th Street, photographed Tuesday, June 13, 2023. Ogden officials are putting together a plan to remediate ground contamination that originated at the site, part of the planned Capitol Square development. It’s also known as the 4-C Laundry parcel.
OGDEN — Ogden’s top economic development official doesn’t think addressing ground contamination from a former laundromat in the proposed Capitol Square development will require an extraordinary effort.
“At this point, there is not an imminent threat that exists that would require (the Utah Department of Environmental Quality) to have us do anything outside of the normal procedures,” said Brandon Cooper, Ogden’s director of community and economic development.
A Utah Investigative Journalism Project report in partnership with the Standard-Examiner last month revealed the existence of the underground toxic plume originating from the site of the former Forsey Laundry & Cleaners location at 856 E. 25th St. The parcel is part of the Capitol Square development that’s to cover much of the central Ogden block bounded by 24th and 25th streets to the north and south and Quincy Avenue and Monroe Boulevard to the east and west.
Ogden officials have touted the project as a key prong in ongoing efforts to rejuvenate and revitalize the worn areas of east-central Ogden. The old Rite Aid building sat off 24th Street on the Capitol Square site before the city razed it, leaving behind a largely vacant lot.
Now they have another hurdle to overcome in the form of underground cleanup as the launch of work on the first project on the site, a 176-unit apartment complex, looms, possibly in July. Cooper, though, doesn’t seem to view the issues as overly daunting, noting that the city was aware of the potential issues when it acquired the laundromat land in April 2021 at a price the Utah Investigative Journalism Project put at $445,000.
The city carried out preliminary environmental site assessments of the parcel before buying the land that offered “a preliminary look into the environmental condition,” Cooper said. “Additional study and sampling was only possible once we obtained control of the property.”
Bracing for “the worst,” he said, the city worked with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality to take part in a voluntary cleanup program to address the situation. Participation in the program doesn’t eliminate the city’s responsibility to cover cleanup costs, he said, but “it does help protect the city from any liability related to the original release and subsequent contamination.”
Consultants have found trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) in the ground at the site, according to Cooper. Both are common contaminants left behind by laundromats.
Solvents like PCE, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, can “contaminate the soil and groundwater for a long time. The contamination can last tens to hundreds of years. The vapors from these solvents can also intrude into buildings.”
The cleanup plan is in draft form, still focus of review, but Cooper said it calls for removal of the soil at the site, also known as the 4-C Laundry parcel. Moreover, a vapor intrusion monitoring system, or VIMS, is to be placed under nearby new buildings and additional ground monitoring is envisioned to better gauge the extent of contamination.
Already, some of the monitoring is occurring and preliminary VIMS samples haven’t indicated seepage of dangerous vapors caused by contaminants to nearby buildings. Working with the DEQ, Cooper said, the cleanup plan “will address all contamination that is above acceptable limits which poses any threat to public health and safety.”
Cooper had earlier said work was to begin in June on the new apartment building on the southeast corner of 25th Street and Quincy Avenue, which encompasses the laundromat site. Now he’s expecting work to start in July and said removal of contaminated dirt will likely occur as other elements of the project proceed.
JF Impact, the developer, is to acquire the 2 acres of land needed for the apartment building from the city for $757,760, according to city documents. A least part of the housing would include units for lower-income renters.
Other elements of the Rite-Aid site plans call for a grocery store, three- and four-story condominiums, office and/or retail space, townhomes and more. Cooper has “nothing firm to report yet” about development plans on other portions of the Capitol Square site.