Exide releases demolition plans for Frisco plant: Public information meeting to take place Dec. 12

Exide Technologies has released demolition, dust control and air monitoring plans for the removal of its lead-acid battery plant in Frisco that shut down last week.

Additionally, the company has announced a public meeting will take place regarding the plant's demolition. That meeting will take place 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Frisco Heritage Center's depot.

Frisco Mayor Maher Maso noted the city won't be involved in the meeting, but said he was happy residents will have a chance to learn about the demolition directly from Exide.

"Frankly, anytime there's public input, that's a good thing for us," Maso said. "We're happy Exide is involving the community in the process."

According to the demolition plan, which is dated Nov. 9, a site-specific health and safety plan is being put in place for the duration of the demolition. Dust control and air monitoring are included as part of the overall health and safety plan.

The plans were created by Pastor, Behling & Wheeler, an engineering consulting firm, and Remediation Services, a remediation contractor specializing in environmental services.

Mack Borchardt, the city's fire programs consultant and special assistant to the city manager, will oversee the plant's demolition on the city's behalf.

"I will be visiting the site periodically, and we have weekly meetings scheduled [between the city and Exide]," Borchardt said. "We could vary those meetings based on the schedule, with more frequent meetings in times of higher activity or dropping some meetings when we're on a fairly routine pace, but I expect we'll be meeting at least once a week."

Borchardt also noted the city has an open dialogue with Exide, saying the two sides "know each other," which should make the demolition process easier.

"The project is actually ahead of schedule right now -- we're glad to see that," he said.

Many of the preparations for actually tearing down structures and equipment have already begun, although the demolition itself has yet to take place. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will monitor the demolition once it begins.

No structures on the Exide plant will be demolished with the use of wrecking balls or explosives in an effort to keep the spread of dust at a minimum.

"That's a few months out," Borchardt said. "The demolition will likely be more dismantling and taking things away, as [Exide] has other facilities and I suspect they'll want to be able to use that equipment at other facilities."

Remediation Services will provide four of its employees to serve as an air monitoring and dust prevention team during the course of the demolition.

Other employees from both companies, as well as the remaining Exide employees in the city, will also help during the demolition.

Some of the methods the Exide cleanup crew will be implementing to control the spread of dust include wetting paved and unpaved areas as well as applying dust suppressant materials.

The dust control plan states the "primary mechanism for dust control will be the use of water trucks with a spray bar and spray hose(s)," and a large area mister may also be used as a dust suppression system to "mitigate the potential for fugitive emissions."

"Ultimately, it's a new chapter for that area of Frisco, and certainly the part of it the city is purchasing," Borchardt said. "So we want to be able to answer questions at the end of the process because we know there will be questions, not only by our citizens, but also potential developers. We want to have the proper records and explanations in place for any future developers."

Multiple requests for comment from Exide, Remediation Services and Pastor, Behling & Wheeler were unreturned.

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