Senator Jeff Howe (R-Rockville) this week presented legislation that appropriates money to allow the City of Paynesville to hire an independent contractor to assess remediation that has been done regarding previous gasoline contamination in multiple water wells.

Benzene was first identified at Paynesville’s Midtown Service Station site in 1985, and the affected tanks were removed in 1989. Benzene was again identified in other primary wells for the city in 1997, with the source being the leaking underground storage tanks at the former Midtown Service Station. The city worked in tandem with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to eliminate the gasoline contamination. When the MPCA was pushed for more aggressive remediation, Paynesville officials were met with annoyance and pushback from the agency, leaving residents questioning whether the decontamination process was done well-enough to protect the long-term water supply.

“There have been questions raised about the MPCA’s cleanup process with Paynesville’s wells. Paynesville and other communities experienced contamination from leaking tanks. The drinking water is safe, but we need to ensure that the contamination was remediated properly. The city needs the flexibility to hire a third-party consultant simply to review the process and reports the MPCA used to address the contamination. We want to understand the process and give residents peace of mind,” Howe said.

Last month the Office of the Legislative Auditor released a report regarding the MPCA’s Petroleum Remediation Program, finding that MPCA staff “do not directly investigate petroleum release or clean up petroleum contamination.” The MPCA instead relies on environmental consultants to investigate the contamination, and then reviews the consultants’ reports to determine what actions are needed at the site. The report recommends that “The Legislature should direct MPCA and the Department of Commerce to collaborate in holding consultants more accountable for poor-quality work on release sites.” The CDC has found that benzene exposure leads to a number of long-term health problems such as anemia, cancer, and death.

This bill was heard in the Senate Environment Finance committee and was laid over for possible inclusion in the committee’s final omnibus bill.