The South Commons tank farm: what next for this biohazard eyesore?

Rusty chemical storage tanks blight the riverbank at the old state docks on Columbus’s South Commons. Never profitable for the city, the dock site is now an eyesore and potential biohazard. Finally it appears the Georgia Ports Authority will partner with the city to clean up this brownfield and return the land to local citizens.

The Chattahoochee, once the city’s economic lifeline, by the end of World War II had seen no commercial river traffic for decades. In 1946 Congress passed the Rivers and Harbors Act authorizing the Corps of Engineers to construct three dams south of Columbus. The chief of the Corps in 1951 predicted the dams “could lead to a revolutionary industrialization.”

Columbus gave the Georgia Ports Authority land on the South Commons in 1961 to construct a state dock. The city held an ecstatic festival over Labor Day weekend 1964 to open the new port. With river traffic resuming, local boosters saw “unlimited potential” for industry, tourism, and recreation.

The “revolutionary industrialization” never materialized. Columbus received no rental income from the Ports Authority or its tenants at the state docks. The dock operation lost $131,000 by 1972, averaging just over one barge arrival per month. The Ports Authority built petroleum storage tanks in the mid-1970s, anticipating receipt of 6,000 tons of crude each month. In 1984, its best year, the port averaged only about 2,400 tons monthly.

Keeping the channel navigable required the Corps to spend millions annually to dredge the river. The last barge arrived in Columbus in 2001. By then, critics charged maintaining the Chattahoochee's navigable channel was among the nation's “10 most-wasteful projects.”

After barge traffic ended, a rail line provided access to the storage tanks, with train tank cars bringing in chemicals then transferred to tanker trucks. Hazardous chemicals were stored in the tanks for decades, leading to many complaints about noxious odors. Omega Partners, the last tenant, vacated the site in 2016.

The deteriorating industrial eyesore is a deterrent to the South Commons’s revitalization and prosperity. Recently the “rusty tank farm” was listed as a potential barrier to Columbus hosting the U.S. Women’s Softball Team in 2020. The cleaned-up state docks property holds great potential for the city. The 14-acre riverside site could be turned into additional softball or soccer fields, a green recreational lawn with a bandshell for concerts and festivals, or even commercial development with condos, restaurants, and retail.

The June 7, 1965 deed between the city and Ports Authority states, “in the event the operation of such port facilities is terminated and abandoned, the lands described herein shall revert to the City of Columbus, Georgia.” The city has been negotiating privately with the Ports Authority to clean up the site before returning it.

Mayor Teresa Tomlinson says the city has struck a deal with the Ports Authority to share the costs of clean-up and give the property back within several months. She says the city has “a written commitment from a contractor” to remove the chemical tanks and other structures, leaving a “grassy field.” The four rail lines there and the dock on the river won’t be removed yet.

Possible chemical residue in the 20 tanks and ground contamination under them are of major concern. The Ports Authority funded three environmental studies in 2015 and 2016, and Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division has certified the site is cleared of contamination, the mayor says.

But it’s impossible to know what leakage may have occurred under the tanks until they’re removed. According to the mayor, after approving the deal with the Ports Authority, the city has up to 120 days to inspect the property, even to dismantle the tanks and see if contamination is beneath them. She says the contractor’s estimate includes removal of contaminated soil, if necessary.

Still, it’s possible the contamination could be severe. No private citizen would assume an unknown liability when buying property. The city may be taking a risk in accepting a deal in which it takes on sole liability for possible pollution.

The deal negotiated with the Ports Authority is the best the city can get, Mayor Tomlinson says. If the current deal falls through, she says the Ports Authority has threatened to sign a new lease with Omega Partners to begin storage of chemicals once again. A spill or leak could be catastrophic, especially with the Fort Benning water intake just downriver.

A new tenant using the old tanks property seems unlikely, given the site’s dilapidated condition. Bringing the site back to life would take a large infusion of capital. Omega Partners removed much of the infrastructure when it abandoned the site in 2016. Apparently no equipment is left to fill the tanks from rail cars and transfer the chemicals to tanker trucks. Experts say the rail line is so unstable tanker cars could topple into the river.

Before approving the deal with the Ports Authority, the city council should answer questions such as:

• What will it cost the city to remove the chemical tanks and other structures, excluding the rail lines and dock? Is the Ports Authority paying its fair share?
• Are plans underway to remove the rail lines and dock? If so, what is the cost estimate?
• Whose liability is possible ground contamination under the chemical storage tanks? Should the city risk assuming sole liability?

Beyond the possible legal question lies the moral issue. The Ports Authority got city property for free and created the mess on the South Commons. The city never profited from the port, while the Ports Authority got it all. The Ports Authority has the revenue necessary to help clean up the site, with record profits of $373 million contributing to a net position of more than $1 billion at the end of 2017. It currently has more than $200 million in cash.

At this point we must put our trust in the mayor’s assurances: that the docks site will return to the city with the Ports Authority shouldering its fair share of the costs; that the city’s liability risk over ground contamination is low; and that finally the ugly tank farm will give way to a “grassy field” along the Chattahoochee.

This story was originally published March 24, 2018 at 8:00 PM with the headline "The South Commons tank farm: what next for this biohazard eyesore?."