Midvale meeting tonight on project

MIDVALE — Officials here are trying to squeeze a little green out of a Superfund brownfield.

After 22 years tied up in environmental regulations, the 206-acre former lead-smelting site will now be turned into money-making retail and residences for the city.

"It's more than just a financial consideration, it's psychological, too," said Midvale Community Development Director Christine Richman. "To see that it's not only cleaned up, but that something good and productive is going to happen is psychologically very good for residents."

The site, which was contaminated by the Sharon Steel plant, was cleaned up with $64 million from the Environmental Protection Agency and will soon be officially crossed off the contaminated site list.

With the go-ahead from the EPA, Richman said the city has contracted with developer Ben Magelsen of Createrra Inc. to build a large, mixed-use development from 7800 South to 8400 South and from the Jordan River to 700 West. The development, called Jordan Bluffs, will include 90,000 square feet of retail space, city parks, 2,300 condos and homes, a church and a school. The site plan for the area will be presented to residents for public comment tonight at 7 p.m.

The overall vision, Magelsen said, is that the area will be an old-fashioned walkable community where residents will gather to shop, eat and socialize.

"If we want to go out as a family at night, we can walk to a restaurant together. We'll keep a self-contained life right in the middle of Salt Lake Valley," he said. "This is basically the poster child for walkable green communities."

Combined with a slag site across the street, Midvale's two Superfund sites make up nearly 20 percent of the city's acreage and have been unusable for more than two decades. The Sharon Steel area, Richman said, was not only a physical blight for all those years but constrained the city's development. Many neighboring residents saw their home values plummet because of the EPA contamination label and were subject to soil searches on their property.

"Our only opportunity to see something happen in Midvale was on the two Superfund sites," she said. "It's been very difficult and very stressful."

Contaminated soil, which has traces of arsenic and other hazardous chemicals, lies anywhere from 8 to 22 feet below what is now ground level and is covered by a thick plastic and metal mesh cover.

The cap prevents the contaminated soil and groundwater from infecting city water sources. Richman said developers and residents will be given guidelines on how to avoid puncturing the cover while laying home foundations and water pipes.

"These guidelines will need to be in place forever because the tailings will be there forever. We don't want to lose track of these things over time," she said.

Still, Magelsen said the area is probably safer than most tailings sites because the soil has been studied extensively and has received so much attention from EPA regulation officials.

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