BY BRIAN MCGILLIVARY
TRAVERSE CITY -- Leelanau County Treasurer Vicki Kilway doesn't expect any bidders when two acres near West Bay on Cedar Creek goes to auction for unpaid taxes.
A bidder would need just $31,000 to cover back taxes and take ownership of a prime location on Cherry Bend Road next to Norris Elementary school. But Kilway expects contamination and millions of dollars in federal liens to keep the property under county ownership.
The former industrial laundry and dry cleaning operation is among the worst polluted sites in the nation. The Grand Traverse Overall Supply Co. site is a Superfund project of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA estimates removal of cancer-causing volatile organic compounds and dry cleaning chemicals from the soil and groundwater could take up to 10 years.
"I'm not thrilled to have this property," Kilway said.
The EPA already has spent $3.7 million on the site and expects the final tab to top $7 million. The EPA places federal liens on the property to help recover costs.
The county received the property when its owner, Iceless Co. LLC, stopped paying property taxes in 2005. It will try to sell the property at public auction on Aug. 1 in Manistee.
"We have had five or six people who inquired on the property, but I'm guessing once the liens and everything is filed against it they may not be so interested," Kilway said.
If it doesn't sell in August, the county will try again next year, though Kilway expects the same result.
The county will not have any financial liability for the cleanup, unlike a private purchaser. Scott Howard, an environmental attorney in Traverse City, said there are exemptions from liability in both state and federal law for tax-reverted property.
Leelanau County also signed an agreement with the EPA that protects the county from liability while allowing cleanup to continue.
The next phase of the cleanup begins today with the mobilization of equipment on site. The EPA intends to remove 11,000 tons of contaminated soil, as well as the former building's foundation, over the next month.
Parents objected to work starting while their children were still in school at Norris and the EPA agreed to wait.
EPA on-scene coordinator Michelle Jaster said excavation will begin immediately after students are dismissed on June 11.
Kilway said she thinks the closing of Norris by Traverse City Area Public Schools helped fuel speculation and generate interest in redeveloping the two properties together through the county brownfield redevelopment program.
But TCAPS has no intention to sell its property, said Paul Soma, TCAPS chief financial officer.
The district doesn't have concrete plans for the site, but would like to see the facility used for community or educational programming.
"If the economy ever turns in Michigan, we think Traverse City is well-positioned to grow and we need to make sure we have the land assets to accommodate students," Soma said.
Kilway said the county will look at using its brownfield program and newly created land bank authority to redevelop the property, but such discussions are in their infancy.
Superfund site redevelopment does occur, but it's a complicated and complex process dealing with both state and federal laws and agencies, Howard said.
"Superfund sites are the real bad sites and it makes redevelopment all the more difficult," Howard said. "There is a substantial amount of work just to figure it out and they are going to be paying consultants for a long time."
