The town of Clarkdale has submitted its official comments on a program to deal with potential soil contamination to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
Freeport McMoRan, the company that holds the old land related to mining around the area, has been moving forward with an effort to identify areas of potential soil pollution and clean them up.
The company has been working with the state to get ahead of the issue.
The public comment period is closed now but last week, the Clarkdale Town Council wanted to make sure that its voice was heard.
The town had set up a committee to look over the proposed plan with Mayor Doug Von Gausig, Town Manager Gayle Mabery, Public Works Director Wayne Debrosky, Finance Director Kathy Bainbridge, Economic Developer Jodie Filardo and Senior Planner Beth Escobar.
The committee reviewed the plan and came up with the town’s response.
“The council only made a couple of minor changes,” Mabery said.
The town would like to see a clearer definition of what properties will be potentially subject to testing, changing some wording so that it’s clear that the area first tested will eventually be subject to expansion.
At least 500 properties might fall under the testing area.
The plan also notes that industrial areas are excluded from the plan. The town would like this addressed, as some properties that were once used industrially are now used for residential or commercial purposes.
The town would also like to see a website set up and bilingual materials distributed as part of the community outreach effort that will be part of the overall soil testing program.
Other concerns involve making sure that if soil is removed, enough soil is removed to mitigate possible contaminants that could potentially be dangerous to people.
To read the full story, see the Wednesday, Aug. 19, edition of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
