State fines borough, contractor for Talkeetna library violations

WASILLA — A Palmer-based contractor hired to construct the new Talkeetna Library violated provisions of the federal Clean Water Act, according to state officials.

During a May inspection, state inspectors found that the Borough and E & E Construction violated tenets of the Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan for the project and Best Management Practices for construction sites, according to a press release issued by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. The issue had been settled with a total fine of $18,050 for both parties, the release said. Officials said the borough will pay about $4,500 of the fines, which the borough has 30 days to pay.

E & E Construction did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

“Specifically, they (the contractor and borough) failed to keep required inspection reports, a corrective action log, training log, grading and stabilization log, and rainfall log,” the release reads in part. “With this required documentation, DEC was unable to evaluate their compliance with the conditions of the Alaska Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Construction General Permit.”

The fine caught borough officials off-guard, said borough manager John Moosey.

“I was surprised by this,” he said.

Moosey said the fine could signal more rigorous scrutiny of future construction projects in the Mat-Su.

Officials have managed to avoid major citations for multiple years of tens-of-millions of dollars worth of capital construction, Moosey said. And borough officials and the contractor had worked to correct violations once they were informed of them, according to the press release.

“When you think of all the projects, all the roads, all the schools, we have been spot-on on every one of those,” he said. “It was a surprise. It was an error by us, no question.”

The borough tries to correct issues as they are brought up, he said, and the error was primarily clerical.

“Whenever there’s a problem, we own up to the fact and try to cooperate,” he said. “We want to be good actors. We want to be positive and protect our environment. This is a paperwork issue, not a, ‘Hey, we polluted’ issue.”

Borough Capital Projects Director Jude Bilafer said workers on site recorded the information the logs are intended to report, but simply hadn’t filed the logs.

“The key thing is the fact there was no contamination, no spill, of pollution of any kind,” he said.

The borough assembly voted unanimously Tuesday night to accept an $850,000 block grant to fund demolition and site cleanup for the old library. The new $4.7-million library facility officially opened June 24.

The borough is still working with the DEC to improve conditions at the Talkeetna water treatment plant, where violations of testing limits for fecal coliform bacteria last year led officials to lobby for increased sewage rates to cover the cost of repairs and maintenance. Officials said they were working with the state in that case in order to avoid fines or other punitive measures.

Borough resources to fix the problem are in short supply, Moosey said.

“We have a nickel to make repairs when we really need a buck,” he said of the sewage plant.

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.