City to pay $39,875 for environmental monitoring

NEW LONDON – The New London Common Council approved a proposal from AECOM for $39,875 for environmental monitoring at the Mini Park Site.
The council approved the proposal when it met June 16.
At the June 1 New London Public Works/Sewer Utility Commission meeting, Robert Garske, director of Public Works for the city of New London, told the commission that in 2023 in order to receive STP Urban Grant funding for a state run project, the state investigated “all potential sites that had environmental issues” such as old gas stations. Maps that dated back to 1927 were used to identify such sites.
Garske said any place on those maps that indicated any type of petroleum distribution or environmental hazard was tested to see if there would be any issues when excavating the area.
Soil samples were collected at 15 locations in downtown New London, Garske said. Based on the soil sample results, the city was issued three “responsible party letters” for contaminated areas defined by the phase 2.5 investigation done for the WisDOT project downtown. The locations included Mini Park, as well as two locations on North Pearl Street. Other locations were also identified but the city was not responsible for those locations, only the three locations it received letters for.

Garske said the city took possession of the Mini Park property in 1971.
“Being that that’s city property and the DNR assigned us the responsible party letter to that, we have to go forward with monitoring the site to see if any of the potential contaminated areas where they took the two tests has migrated any further to the north or further out into the roadway,” Garske said.
The cost for the monitoring would be around $40,000, Garske said.
That cost does not cover the cost of removing any underground storage tanks if any are found.
“The maps that were produced do not show any existing tanks that were left in the ground, so I’m hoping that we don’t have any surprises,” Garske said.