Revised Majestic Hotel cleanup plan submitted

A revised draft plan for the cleanup of the Majestic Hotel debris was submitted to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality on Friday.

Garrison Hassenflu, manager of Park Residences Development LLC, owner of the Majestic Hotel property, originally submitted a cleanup plan to ADEQ in mid-July, but Hot Springs officials said they had "concerns about the amount of time proposed to clean up the debris, and Hassenflu's ability to follow through on his plan."

Hassenflu submitted the plan after ADEQ sent him a letter in early June giving him 60 days to clean up the rubble left from the Feb. 27 fire that destroyed the "yellow brick building," the oldest part of the Majestic Hotel complex. The rubble has remained piled along Park Avenue for six months while various studies were conducted to determine if any hazardous material was contained in the debris.

Tammie Hynum, chief of ADEQ's hazardous waste division, said on Aug. 3 that a revised plan was supposed to be submitted by Hassenflu around mid-August.

Hassenflu, in a letter accompanying the revised plan sent to ADEQ on Friday, said Park Residences Development LLC would "hire a demolition contracting firm to remove the debris from the site. An ADEQ-licensed asbestos contractor will be on-site during debris removal operations in order to segregate and properly containerize any suspect asbestos-containing materials. Personnel on-site during all debris removal operations will include an ADEQ-certified asbestos inspector. Suspect asbestos-containing materials will include materials found to contain asbestos in past asbestos inspection reports and any additional suspect material identified by the asbestos inspector. The segregated waste will be properly manifested and transported to landfills that have been properly notified of the types of waste to be received."

Following the removal of the construction waste and any suspect asbestos­-containing building materials, water from the basement of the "yellow building" property will be pumped out in order to provide access. Before pumping out the basement water, the water will be sampled for chemical oxygen demand, oil and grease, pH, total suspended solids, lead, BTEX, PAHs, and mercury, Hassenflu said in the letter.

Once the water is pumped from the basement, the condition of the existing equipment, including a 10,000-gallon, aboveground fuel storage tank will then be assessed. If the condition of the tank suggests that a Phase II environmental site assessment is necessary, one will be conducted, Hassenflu said.

After the condition of the tank is assessed, it will be removed from the basement in accordance with the ADEQ Regulated Storage Tank regulatory requirement, he said.

The revised cleanup plan submitted by Hassenflu, which is 48 days shorter than the original plan, is as follows:

• Finalize bid documents for the debris removal, including a written asbestos project design document -- seven calendar days from receipt of ADEQ's written notice of approval to proceed with the removal plan. The previous plan called for this to take 14 days.

• Solicit bids from qualified bidders for the debris removal -- 21 calendar days.

• Select the demolition, abatement and transportation contractors, select the landfill location, approve insurance and licensing submittals, and sign contracts.

Submit permits and notifications to the city and ADEQ -- 16 calendar days.

• Complete debris removal -- 60 calendar days. The previous plan would have taken 90 days.

• Pump water from basement -- 10 calendar days.

• Assess the fuel storage tank in basement and obtain bids for storage tank removal -- 10 calendar days. The previous plan called for 14 days.

• Submit the fuel storage tank assessment report and 30-day notice for permanent closure to ADEQ -- 37 calendar days, which includes a 30-day notification period required by the ADEQ.

• Obtain ADEQ approval to proceed with tank removal and any additional soil remediation -- 10 calendar days.

• Remove the storage tank and impacted soils -- 10 calendar days.

• Submit system closure report to ADEQ -- 20 calendar days.

• Submit final project closeout document to ADEQ -- 14 calendar days. The previous plan called for 21 days.

The timeframes for each removal activity have been estimated based on existing knowledge of site conditions. The duration to complete certain cleanup activities may be amended based on confirmed conditions during removal of the debris and the assessment of the fuel storage tank. Any change in the approved removal plan timeframes will be submitted to ADEQ within 48 hours of its discovery, Hassenflu said in the letter.