North River Design - Cart Before The Horse!

Let us not get the cart (North River Project) before the horse (Omni Source property). Sadly that has already happened but at least the city is only on the hook for the $25,000 option they have extended on the property. There are serious questions that need to be answered before the city writes a check for $4,300,000.00.

This posting only deals with potential environmental issues this property may contain.

The site was a known as Superior Iron and Metal back when it opened in the early 1940's. For us old people who remember the view we where greeted with when we drove either north or south on Clinton Street. We say any number of piles reaching up twenty to thirty feet in the air of junk. There would be automobile engines, truck engines, engines from huge machines piled up. You would see stacks of transmissions from these same vehicles. They would set there for months with the oil and remaining coolant running out of them onto the ground.

One would see piles of metal rising up higher then the homes to the west of the site. Some would soon become colored with rust but others remained shinny for months all mixed in the same pile. The reason for some material not rusting right away when exposed to the rain and so forth is it was coated with oils. Some was scarped from local plating shops that contained about every heavy metal you can think of on them. All oils, chemicals and metals slowly washed or oxcided off onto the bare ground.

There was tons and tons of old lead pipe piled on the property that when pounding rains beat on it the oxide of the lead would flake off and run onto the ground. Some of the lead was so bad that it would crumble apart into small pieces when moved and mix with the ground below it.

As the business operated they had tractors, front loaders and cranes moving around the site. This equipment drove over the puddles of coolants, spilled gasoline, transmission fluids, hevy metals other chemicals washed off scrap metal. This forced a mixing of the chemicals into the clay ground. Smaller chunks of metal was compacted into the earth as these machines moved around the site doing their work. This resulted in nickel, cadmium and other heavy metals to become mixed into the soil.

Some of our city officials act like if we do not quickly move ahead with the purchase of the property it will be gone. How many years has this former scrap yard set there covered with a thin layer of dirt and grass? How many years has owners tried to sale the property and found no buyers? At what price would they have sold it to some private company? What private company would touch this site knowing only what we do about it? Few if any is a good belief!

The asking price for the property is $4,300,000 for about 29 acres. That is a little under $147,000 an acre for a site that has one main road going one direction to it. The remaining street with access to the property is little more then a residential street. You can purchase brand new commercial property right off Maplecrest & 469 for a little over $200,000 an acre. There is a large parcel of brand new commercial property at Illinois & Hamilton road with an asking price of around $200,000 an acre. The point is this property is not being offered at some bargain price to the city.

While some will say these issues have been addressed in the North River Now Q&A section one has to question it. Below is the answer provided in the North River Now Q&A to the environmental issue.

Q. Are there any environmental issues associated with the North River site?
A. Initial environmental testing has been done by OmniSource with good reports, but further testing will be orchestrated by the City to establish and verify the status of the site. Underground storage tanks have already been removed. The option agreement for the land contains environmental provisions. They will be examined thoroughly and monitored closely to guarantee appropriate standards are met.

If you wish you can go to http://northrivernow.org/ and look under Frequently Asked Questions.

It has to be asked of city leaders to publish the complete "INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING" information? What areas and what scope were they taken too? The underground storage tanks is a very very small fraction of the potential environmental problems that may be covered by a thin layer of clay and grass.

The "OPTION AGREEMENT contains environmental provisions." What are these provisions as they should be published so the general public knows what they may be on financial hook for?

What is not understood is the last sentence of, "They will be examined thoroughly and monitored closely to guarantee appropriate standards are met." Why would there need to be ongoing monitoring? What is going on under the surface that would require additional monitoring if this site is so clean?

The City Council, as the peoples review representative, must look very hard at the environmental issues of the property. If they just elect to make a motion and vote to "DO PASS" this resolution without a proper review they should all be voted out of office.

To the general public, including those who served so well on the North River committee, please drive out on the east side of Fort Wayne and look at the current Omni Source property. Would you build a home, let your kids play on a playground, or picnic on the ground this site sets on without proper cleanup?