The city plans to establish a municipal settings designation at the center, a designation that would prohibit groundwater less than 150 feet deep from being used for human consumption, bathing or cooking, according to a presentation given at the Feb. 28 council meeting.
There are four sites with municipal settings designations within half a mile of Richardson city limits. The city of Richardson adopted a designation in 2013 for the Caruth/BC Station Partners property at the northeast corner of US 75 and Renner Road.
The Promenade Shopping Center is a commercial shopping area that included the Town and Country Dry Cleaners facility. Bill Alsup, director of health for the city, said chlorinated solvents from the dry cleaning facility leaking into the soil were a major factor for the contamination of the groundwater, according to historical sampling.
As a result, the center has been enrolled in a voluntary cleanup program by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality since 1999, with complete soil excavation being performed in 2001 and several remediation efforts for the groundwater performed between 2001-12.
An environmental consultant reviewed the groundwater issue at the Promenade Center from late 2019 to early 2020. City officials said the consultant observed that groundwater contamination was mostly concentrated in the upper 20 feet. This shallow groundwater is not considered a usable resource because of low volume and poor quality, according to the city. No groundwater wells deeper than 20 feet below ground are said to be at risk of contamination.
City Council previously observed potential groundwater restrictions at the center in May 2020 when it passed a resolution in support of a municipal settings designation. This resolution allowed property owners to seek conditional approval from the TCEQ. Alsup said city officials planned to adopt an ordinance restricting groundwater in the center once the property owner had conditional approval, which was granted in November.
A proposition to approve the designation is scheduled for the council’s March 28 regular meeting. If approved, property owners will submit applications along with documents from the city of Richardson and the city of Dallas to the TCEQ for final approval.
