The City of Tacoma agreed Tuesday to settle with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its threat to fine the City for delays associated with cleanup of the Thea Foss and Wheeler-Osgood waterways.
The federal agency has agreed to reduce the penalties to $358,000a fraction of the more than $2.4 million threatenedand defer asking for payment until the City completes the Superfund cleanup. The EPA also agreed to grant the Citys request to extend completion of the project two months, until the end of February.
When the City requested last year to extend the construction schedule and then missed two of the interim deadlines in question, EPA sent a letter May 10, threatening to impose stipulated penalties and denying the Citys request to extend the schedule.
The City immediately argued against the EPAs actions. The two organizations have negotiated since then to resolve the dispute.
The Tacoma City Council heard the proposed dispute resolution at Tuesdays study session.
We still dont believe fines are in order here because weve shown our commitment to finishing this complicated, four-year construction project as quickly and carefully as possible, said Public Works Director Bill Pugh. By reaching this agreement, however, we can focus our energy on completing this cleanup, which is so important to our community, instead of an expensive legal fight. Perhaps by unveiling a cleaned up waterway in February, EPA will realize no fines are necessary.
The City, which volunteered in 1994 to lead the cleanup of the Superfund-listed waterways, began major construction work in 2002. Despite such complications as the discovery of live ammunition on a construction site and recontamination on already cleaned areas, the City expects to complete the project within two months of the original, aggressive schedule.
For more information on the Citys Superfund cleanup, visit http://www.cityoftacoma.org/fosscleanup.
