The city of Lincoln expects a final environmental report on property owned by Burlington Northern Santa Fe and targeted for arena redevelopment as early as next week.
But it's now clear reports on the other six properties will not be ready before voters go to the polls May 11.
Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency said it would expedite testing of the area so the city could have results before the vote on whether to proceed with the arena development.
The redevelopment area consists of seven parcels owned by six entities; when the EPA announced it was speeding up the process, it wasn't immediately clear how many properties their contractor would be able to complete analysis on before the election.
But Lincoln and EPA officials now say only the BNSF land will be done for sure. The environmental report will provide information about the type and extent of contamination and cleanup options -- but not cleanup cost estimates.
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BNSF's land is the most important parcel; the railroad owns the vast majority of the land, including the spot where an arena and private buildings would be constructed.
But other parcels have contamination issues, too.
They include a former coal gasification site --where coal was converted into natural gas and coal tar often was left behind, which can contain lead, arsenic, cyanide and cancer-causing compounds. And the ground beneath Alter Scrap Processing likely holds fluids that escaped during disassembly of vehicles and appliances.
A month ago, Miki Esposito, senior policy aide to Mayor Chris Beutler, said an agreement with Alter was expected to be reached to allow access to the property, but that still has not happened.
The other properties are owned by:
- Marathon LLC, which owns a parking lot north of the INS building.
- The Lincoln Depot Limited Partnership, which owns parking lots north and south of Lincoln Station. A final report on this property is expected in May.
- Jaylynn, a limited liability corporation that owns property along the spur track centerline. A final report on this property is expected in May.
- Union Pacific, which owns land along the west side of the proposed area that would primarily be used for green space and stormwater mitigation. UP has denied access for testing until the city buys the land.
The EPA results have become an issue in the arena election because some project opponents suspect the city's $7.5 million cleanup cost estimate is too low.
Environmental attorney Lynn Moorer, part of the No2Arena group, was surprised to learn only the BNSF property would be done for sure. She said voters were expecting final reports on all properties except UP before the election.
But the city's Esposito said she never expected a final report on any property other than BN.
"That's all we contemplated," she said.
Moorer said even if all the so-called phase two reports were done, they would not be detailed enough to make a decision about proceeding with the arena.
She said a site characterization (or what she calls a phase 3) study must be done to get a complete picture of contamination and cost estimates.
"To have that little bit of information for only one of the properties before the election is very troubling." she said.
EPA spokesman Chris Whitley said it's possible reports on other properties will be done before May 11, but BN's is the only one EPA is guaranteeing because it is the dominant landowner.
"We ought to have something fairly soon," he said.
The city has previously contracted with a local firm, HWS, to do environmental studies, but the EPA analysis will be more in-depth.
Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.
