Chairman McNutt called the meeting to order. |
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| Trustees Present: |
Absent: |
Don McNutt, Chairman
Jim Ford, Vice Chairman
John Albert
Rich AuBuchon
Tom Kolb
Ski Mariea
Danny Opie
Tom Pfeiffer
Melvin Schebaum
Dan Schuette
Bruce Work |
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| Staff Present: |
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Bob Clarke, Operations Manager, Williams & Company Consulting, Inc
Tim Duggan, Attorney General's Office
Carol R. Eighmey, Executive Director
Dan Henry, Claims Coordinator Supervisor, Williams & Company Consulting, Inc
Jeffrey Humenik, Williams & Company Consulting, Inc
Pat Vuchetich, General Claims Manager, Williams & Company Consulting, Inc
Diane Wallace, Executive Assistant |
| Others Present: |
Heath Clarkston, Gallagher Consultants
Kathy Flippin, MDNR, Division of Environmental Quality
Harry Gallagher, Gallagher Consultants
Eric Holder, Booz Allen Hamilton
Kerry Kaullen, Department of Agriculture, Division of Weights and Measures
Ron Leone, Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association
Mike Martin, MDNR, Division of Environmental Quality
Angela Oravetz, MDNR, Division of Environmental Quality
David Pate, Midwest Environmental Consultants
Chris Veit, MDNR, Division of Environmental Quality
Chris Weesner, Booz Allen Hamilton
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Claim Appeal – Westhoff Property, Claim 80361
Chairman McNutt introduced Jack Waters, who thanked the Board for letting him attend and explain his claim appeal. Mr. Waters introduced Paul Scheetz and Teresa Cody from IPES, Inc. He acknowledged that he had missed the appeal deadline and asked the Board to consider the merits of his appeal anyway. He then went through each point in Williams & Company’s letter and explained why he chose to incur costs for hauling minimally-impacted dirt to the landfill. He emphasized that the DNR’s risk-based cleanup requirements were relatively new at the time, and highlighted dialogue his consultant had with DNR to get clarification on how to handle the soil.
Pat Vuchetich then explained why the costs for hauling and disposing of some of the soil had been denied, noting that the levels of contamination were so low, DNR did not require any corrective action. He distributed a summary of the laboratory analysis of the soils, which is attached hereto.**
Trustees asked various questions regarding whether the dirt could have been stored on site until DNR clarified its requirements, whether there were other locations the dirt could have been taken to, whether Mr. Waters knew at the time that the PSTIF would not pay to haul and dispose of the minimally-impacted soil. After discussion, Chairman McNutt informed Mr. Waters that the Trustees would discuss the matter in closed session and a letter would be sent within two weeks, notifying him of the Board’s decision. Dan Schuette moved that the Board vote whether to waive its 180-day deadline during the Open Session part of the meeting. The motion died for lack of a second.
Approval of Minutes – October 3, 2007 Meeting
Bruce Work moved that the minutes from the October 3, 2007 Board meeting be approved. Melvin Schebaum seconded. Dan Schuette noted that he voted against the motion to approve a FY09 appropriation for DNR that was less than requested, and asked that this fact be reflected in the minutes. Don McNutt corrected a reference to the transport load fee in that portion of the minutes related to the Actuarial Study. With these changes, the motion carried.
Monthly Reports
Chairman McNutt invited review and questions concerning the monthly reports.
FY07 Audit Report - Graves and Associates
Chairman McNutt introduced Lynn Graves and Jeff Hyman from Graves and Associates. Mr. Graves summarized the FY07 audit, reporting that the PSTIF financial records are materially accurate. He reviewed the Audit Report with the Trustees, noting that the Fund’s financial position had improved. Trustees asked questions regarding the rate of return on investments and how the Fund’s liabilities were estimated. Tom Kolb made a motion to approve the FY07 Audit Report as presented. Tom Pfeiffer seconded. Motion carried.
Annual Report on Insured AST Losses
Chairman McNutt invited Carol Eighmey to report on recent releases from insured AST systems. Ms. Eighmey noted 13 such claims had been filed in FY07, seven of which involved identifiable leaks or spills. She gave a presentation summarizing the cause of loss for those seven claims and showing pictures of the releases and some of the cleanups.
Cleanups
Report – Triad Project – Chairman McNutt reminded the Board of a presentation made in September 2006 concerning a joint project of the DNR, EPA, and PSTIF, called “Triad.” He then introduced Jeff Humenik from Williams and Company Consulting to report on the Triad project. Mr. Humenik briefly reviewed the goals of the Triad process, emphasizing that it includes systematic planning, dynamic work strategies, and real-time decision-making, with the overall goal of expediting cleanups. He described the three tank site cleanups chosen for the Triad pilot project; initial planning meetings; and how all data, reports, and correspondence were posted on a password-protected web site by EPA for ready access to the project participants. He then outlined “lessons learned,” concluding with a judgment that the process had not succeeded in expediting action at two of the three sites, primarily because project participants had no incentive to meet the deadlines they committed to. There was discussion about who is responsible for compelling action; Mr. Humenik noted the PSTIF has no authority to compel corrective action and suggested the process would work better if either the property owner or the regulatory agency motivated timely action.
RBCA – Chairman McNutt postponed discussion on this topic.
Report and Recommendation – Remedial Claims Project
Ms. Eighmey reviewed discussions and actions taken over the last year in an effort to better quantify the Fund’s risk for cleanup of tank sites where the tanks were taken out of use by December 31, 1997. She summarized a memorandum provided in their notebooks, noting more than 2000 properties had been identified where regulated USTs were once registered with the DNR, were subsequently taken out of use, and no NFA has been issued. She suggested an effort be undertaken to contact the owners of these properties prior to the Fund’s sunset date, since they are subject to regulatory action concerning the former USTs, and asked the Trustees for direction on whether and how to proceed.
Considerable discussion followed. There was general consensus that an effort should be made to contact all such property owners. Various people questioned what percentage of the property would respond to a mailing, noting that if there is substantial response it would create additional workload for both the PSTIF staff and the DNR Tanks Section. Ms. Eighmey explained that county officials will have to be contacted to obtain names and addresses of the current owners of the properties, which will take some time. Finally, Ski Mariea moved that the PSTIF undertake an effort to mail letters to the current owner of all such properties, with contacts spread over the eight quarters of 2008 and 2009; he observed that this would mean every owner would have at least one year to make decisions and take actions before the Fund’s sunset date of 12/31/10. Tom Kolb seconded. Chairman McNutt asked for a voice vote; motion carried without dissent.
Update - EPAct
Chairman McNutt asked if there were any questions on the update. There were none.
Report on 2007 EPA Inspections of UST Sites
EPA Contract Inspections – Dan Schuette introduced Eric Holder and Chris Weesner from Booz Allen Hamilton, who made a presentation on approximately 220 UST inspections done in 2007 under their contract with EPA. Angela Oravetz from the Department of Natural Resources then explained the actions taken by the DNR in response to those inspections. (Copies of both presentations are stored with records from the Board meeting.)
Administrative Issues
Update on FY08 Inspections – Chairman McNutt invited questions on the information provided in the Trustees’ notebooks; there were none.
Contract Renewal – Third Party Administrator – Tom Pfeiffer made a motion to renew the Williams & Company Consulting contract for 2008, noting the contract allows a 1.9% increase in pricing. Tom Kolb seconded. Motion carried.
Billings – Chairman McNutt invited questions from the Trustees on the invoices listed; there were none.
Board Meeting Dates for 2008 – Chairman McNutt referred Trustees to the schedule in their notebooks and pointed out the date for the second Board meeting was changed to April 8.
Tom Pfeiffer moved that the Board go into closed session to discuss and vote on matters related to legal actions, causes of action, litigation, and/or personnel issues pursuant to Section 610.021, RSMo. Melvin Schebaum seconded. Motion carried.
**For a copy of the information/presentation mentioned in these minutes, please contact the PSTIF Office. Please note, if the information/presentation is in electronic format, it will be sent to you as an email attachment per your request. However, as some information may be in hard copy only, please provide your mailing address at the time of your email request.
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