(Spirit Lake)– With one abstention, the Dickinson County Board of Supervisors this (Tues.) morning voted to hold a public meeting October 1st to hear in layman’s terms, the findings of an environmental study of the landfill east of Arnolds Park.
The board of supervisors voted to have the study done in 2018 after it was discovered items contaminated by petroleum from a train derailment in June of that year near Doon, Iowa were being disposed of in the local landfill. While the supervisors received the report’s findings already some time ago, they indicated today (Tues.) they want to hear the results in a way that’s understandable to them and the public. But even then Supervisor Kim Wermersen said it’s his guess they would have already heard about any glaring concerns in the detailed analysis which has been made available to the public…
“If there was something drastically wrong in that report, that’s out there publicly, I would think someone who had the knowledge would have come forward with it to us at some point. You know that as well as I do. But do I think we as a group need to understand it? Absolutely.”
A representative of the consulting firm that performed the study, Fairchild and Coggens, will meet telephonically with the supervisors at their meeting October 1st. The presentation is scheduled for 10:00 am.
Getting an interpretation of the report’s findings in layman’s terms will come with a price tag, though. The cost of having the consultant make the presentation at the October 1st meeting is not to exceed $800.
Supervisor Tim Fairchild abstained from the vote to proceed in having the report’s findings interpreted, as he has a relative that works for the firm that conducted the study.
