Park City School District Begins Dewa

Treated groundwater from the Treasure Mountain Junior High demolition site will flow into Silver Creek starting April 6, but only after lab testing confirms it meets contamination limits the district's own contractors bypassed last fall when they discharged more than half a million gallons into the same watershed without a permit.

Park City School District secured a dewatering permit for its Kearns Boulevard construction site after pooled groundwater accumulated and began hindering construction progress. On April 2, contractors will add treatment chemicals to water held in on-site tanks and collect samples to send to a lab, with results expected the following day. If those samples come back within permitted limits, the discharge begins April 6, routed into a storm drain or directly into Silver Creek. If they don't, the discharge does not proceed.

Sewer repair work is also scheduled to start April 6, with both activities expected to take two to three days. Snyderville Basin Water Reclamation District will be present to observe the sewer repair process. Park City's water department will be notified.

The oversight matters because the same site already has a documented contamination history. According to DEQ noncompliance and incident records, contractors discharged more than half a million gallons of water from the Treasure Mountain demolition site into a storm drain feeding Silver Creek without authorization, and released thousands of additional gallons directly into the creek in a separate Oct. 10 event. Early water samples collected by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality showed arsenic and lead contamination. Post-spill test results have not been publicly released.

Public awareness of those discharges did not come through the district. A whistleblower contacted TownLift and other regional media on Nov. 17, alleging improper groundwater discharge and raising concerns about asbestos handling at the site. When asked for a response, PCSD spokesman Colton Elliott said: "We have not issued a statement [about the incident] as the agencies having jurisdiction are working on a resolution moving forward."

The contamination was not the only regulatory problem. An investigator discovered asbestos on the demolition site in October, prompting the Utah Department of Environmental Quality to fine both the district and third-party contractor Cripple Creek Consulting and Environmental for failing to update the asbestos management plan and for violating air quality standards. A $500 fine notice was sent to Todd Hansen, the district's director of buildings and grounds, on Jan. 9; a subsequent settlement with the state reduced that penalty to $400.

The district pushed back on characterizations of negligence. In a letter to the state following the non-compliance advisory, the district wrote: "Please understand that at no time did (Park City School District) or its consultants attempt to circumnavigate or display malicious intent to not follow procedure for abatement." It also stated that upon discovering the potential asbestos issue, the district "acted immediately to begin professional abatement and mitigation."

Since the incidents, the district changed contractors to provide full-time environmental site management. PCSD Board of Education Vice President Nick Hill said officials found "no evidence of corner-cutting by the general contractor [Hogan Construction]."

The DEQ investigation into the prior water discharges remains open. Post-spill contamination results have not been publicly released. The April 2 samples will be the first water quality data from the site collected and tested under a formal permit.