Okaloosa County BOCC — January 21, 2014 — Action Item Printout

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: January 21, 2014 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Sunil Harman SUBJECT: Destin Ft. Walton Beach Airport- Restrictive Covenant DEPARTMENT: Airport BCC DISTRICT: All STATEMENT OF ISSUE: The Airports Department hired the legal firm of Lewis, Longman and Walker, P.A. to negotiate a Restrictive Covenant with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) that involves a portion of the property within the Destin-Ft. Walton Beach Airport (DTS) that has groundwater contamination issues due to an old underground fuel tank that was abandoned. The Board of County Commissioners is requested to sign this document so that further ground water contamination sampling and monitoring activities can cease. BACKGROUND: In April of 2005, during construction of the Fixed Based Operator (FBO) Terminal, an abandoned underground AvGas fuel storage tank was discovered while clearing the site. This tank belonged to a former tenant no longer in business. Strong odors of fuel were present which prompted soil testing and ultimately remediation (removal) of the surrounding soil. Monitoring wells were set as required by statute and ground water samples were taken. These showed high levels of lead, a heavy metal associated with aircraft fuel. The airport staff embarked on a plan to sample and monitor results, on a quarterly basis, hoping the pollutant levels would naturally subside and closure of the wells and testing would no longer be required. Based upon the data collected over the years since, these levels did not decrease and low-level concentrations of lead remain in one of the groundwater monitoring wells at the site. An evaluation of the lead concentrations reported in the well did not reveal a decreasing trend, with the observed values remaining consistently above the Cleanup Target Level (CTL) that would allow issuance of an unconditional No Further Action (NFA) order from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). The recommendation put forth by the County’s environmental consultant was to cease groundwater monitoring and obtain a No Further Action order by implementing a Restrictive Covenant, with an institutional control, on the subject property. The Airports Department agreed. The attached Restrictive Covenant would require current and future uses of the property to remain commercial in nature and restrict use of groundwater at the site. The site being defined as the parcel is currently associated with the Miracle Strip Aviation (now Regal Aviation) and defined by the boundary sketch shown in the legal document. For other parcel restrictions, see document. OPTIONS: Approve, Reject or Table RECOMMENDATIONS: Approve the legal agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: Ernie Padgett, County Administrator