Frisco officials see Exide cleanup costs mount

[TexasTowelie]

The smokestacks and most buildings are gone now, but remediation still needs to be done along 1.87 miles of Stewart Creek from Exide’s border to the southern edge of Grand Park. That could cost between $6.3 million and $8.8 million, according to city estimates, depending on whether the waste is disposed of in Exide’s landfill or hauled off.

The city of Frisco has spent more than $3.4 million in public funds since 2009 on legal fees, consultants and other costs related to the now-shuttered Exide Technologies plant.

And that figure will continue to grow since the bulk of the cleanup has yet to begin. The question is how much more. A lot of unknowns still exist about the contamination in Frisco and the level of cleanup needed.

A May 2012 agreement between Frisco and Exide spelled out the terms of the battery recycling plant’s closure and cleanup. But a little more than a year later, Exide filed for bankruptcy. Tests since then have confirmed contamination beyond the Exide plant’s borders. Much of it is on city-owned land.

“We’re going to continue to expend whatever we need to make sure the cleanup is done properly — hopefully — and to make sure the city’s position and citizens are protected adequately,” Frisco City Manager George Purefoy said this week. “It’s difficult to know exactly what it’s going to cost at this time.”

More at http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/frisco/headlines/20140425-frisco-officials-see-exide-cleanup-costs-mount.ece .