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Two weeks ago, Plano City Council members in a closed session, discussed whether they should take legal action against a firm they say contaminated the former Monarch Foundry site at 801 E. South St.
After the closed session, City Attorney Tom Grant said there would be litigation and Monday night council members unanimously accepted Grant’s recommendation to hire a firm to file suit against GnG Demolition & Salvage, Inc.
Grant recommended Julie Cibulskis from the law firm of Speers, Reuland & Cibulskis of Aurora, be hired to represent the city to pursue legal action against GnG Demolition and Salvage Inc., for its handling and removal of asbestos material from the foundry site in 2010 and 2011.
Grant said the hourly rate for Cibulskis is $250 an hour. Rates for others in the firm are $250 and $300 an hour, Grant said the firm has worked for the city before and did a great job.
Sometime after the Monarch Foundry was closed, the city purchased the property so the buildings could be razed and the land sold for redevelopment as industrial.
John McGinnis, Plano public works director and city engineer, said at the earlier meeting that part of the 11-acre site is in a flood plain, but there are still about six acres that can be reused, when cleaned up.
It was noted at the earlier meeting that removing asbestos and transite, a form of asbestos sealed in concrete slabs, had become far more expensive than anticipated.
McGinnis said the city told GnG they would have to remove the asbestos panels from the roof and walls, with the asbestos intact.
But on a three-story portion of the building his equipment would not reach high enough, so the contractor knocked it down, causing the panels to break apart releasing the asbestos, McGinnis said. The contractor then took a bull dozer and spread the asbestos across three-acres, McGinnis added.
Dynamic Contracting Services of Elgin has been doing the cleanup work which consists of removing all of the asbestos, concrete and dirt on the site.
McGinnis said the city will still have other costs after the asbestos is removed. To make the site buildable, officials are saying the city must bring in three feet of fill to cover the contaminated soil, McGinnis said.
Monday night, council members approved the payment of $444,478 to Dynamic Contracting Services of Elgin for removal of asbestos from the site.
Alderman Bob Jones asked McGinnis how much they originally estimated it would cost to remove the material and what they have spent so far.
McGinnis said the original base bid was for the removal of 1,000 tons at a cost of $189,465.
“As of this pay request, they removed an additional 2,280 tons at a cost of $215 per ton for a total of $490,284,” he said.
“As of today, we’ve removed an additional 3,686 tons at a cost of $776,981. We’re estimating that our final number should be about $780,000,” he said.
The city will still have other costs after the asbestos is removed. To make the site buildable, officials are saying the city must bring in three feet of fill to cover the contaminated soil, McGinnis said.
The parcel is east of Plano Molding. It is between the Big Rock Creek and the present Plano Molding buildings north of Route 34 and south of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks.