09/24/2006

Petoskey Pointe brownfield tax credit time line

The Petoskey Pointe $4.5 million brownfield tax credit time line:

May 2005

Environmental consultants AKT Peerless Environmental takes 10 soil boring samples on the Petoskey Pointe project site. Results for three of the 10 revealed high concentrations of a chemical called PCE.

January 2006

Peerless, working on behalf of developers Lake Street Petoskey Associates, cites the PCE soil samples in a Brownfield Work Plan presented to Emmet County officials. The plan estimates up to 10,000 cubic yards of polluted soil will need to be hauled away to prepare the property for the project. To cover their anticipated $450,000 expenses, developers ask that costs be refunded using state education money captured by the county's brownfield authority.

Feb. 9, 2006

The Emmet County Board of Commissioners approves the plan.

March 28, 2006

The state Department of Environmental Quality receives a copy of the work plan.

April 6, 2006

DEQ officials question PCE soil results.

April 7, 2006

Peerless officials respond that the PCE test results were flawed, the product of "laboratory contamination" and acknowledge the tests "did not accurately reflect" the soil at the project site.

May 19, 2006

DEQ officials demand justification for Peerless' 10,000-cubic-yard figure for soil contamination, because "insufficient information has been presented ... to justify using school tax capture ... for the entire 10,000 yards."

May 30, 2006

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. receives an application for a $4.5 million brownfield tax credit. Application prepared by Peerless on behalf of Lake Street Petoskey Associates cites both the flawed PCE soil samples and the 10,000-cubic-yard figure.

June 13, 2006

The Michigan Economic Growth Authority Board, under the direction of the MEDC, approves the $4.5 million tax credit. Among the primary project benefits, MEDC officials instruct the board, is that "a long-standing environmental problem will be addressed with the removal of up to 10,000 yards of contamination soil."

June 30, 2006

Peerless writes a letter to DEQ that says the contaminated soil excavation "will likely not exceed 1,000 cubic yards."

Aug. 22, 2006

DEQ approves reimbursement for only a few hundred cubic yards of contaminated soil. Initial estimates of $450,000 drop to a maximum total of about $25,200, with only about $7,200 for actual soil remediation and the remainder for testing and sampling.