(The following editorial, "Mandan turning a corner," appeared Feb. 10, 2010, in the Bismarck, N.D., Tribune.)
The pool of spilled diesel fuel beneath downtown Mandan has been reduced to the point that the recovery wells offer little return. The remediation system recovered 1.7 million pounds of hydrocarbons since it began operating in 2006. Plans are being made for bringing the process to an end.
The work below ground was matched by an economic redevelopment effort on the surface. To make way for drilling recovery wells, buildings were purchased and, in some cases, demolished. In their place new residential and commercial structures now are being planned, are under construction or have been built or remodeled.
As the cleanup project approaches its end, and after several years of hard-nosed economic development effort -- during a national recession, the face of the downtown is changing -- for the better. Business activity in the downtown area has regained its vitality. A very tough run in Mandan's history has been turned around.
The progress in downtown Mandan reflects an expression of perseverance and faith by the business community. It's a tribute to the city's appointed and elected officials, who steered the city through an environmental and economic disaster. And it's also the result of work by the Mandan Remediation Trust, which provides the direction for work related to the clean up and recovery of the downtown.
The trust began its work with $24 million, part of a $32.25 million settlement of a lawsuit brought by the state and city against Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. The fund generated about $2 million in interest as of Dec. 31. On the physical clean up, the trust has spent $15.1 million, plus another $1.4 million on building purchases and demolition. it has a fund balance of nearly $9 million. Property the trust purchased has been resold or committed for sale.
Although the recovery wells have nearly finished their job, there's still cleanup work to be done, some of it by nature and time, and some by man-made technology. It will take years before everyone signs off on the clean up.
But the prospects for Mandan are looking good. The top floor of the four-story, commercial-residential building under construction at the corner of Main Street and First Avenue N.W., is now framed in, and a similar proposed three-story building at the corner of Main Street and Collins Avenue is expected to be built yet this year. Library Square I and II are operational. There are interesting plans afoot for the depot and beanery areas.
"Company property...exemption from common sense." Everytime I read a story like this makes me think of dozens more stories like this popping up in the coming years.
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If you are in a horror movie, you make bad decisions, its what you do.
