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<br /> <br />Gem Lake News Page 3 of 6 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Gem Lake Responds to Water Gremlin Issue (continued from page 2) <br /> <br /> Laboratory for a standard list of 68 volatile organic <br />compounds, including TCE and its products. No <br />contaminants were detected in the first five wells <br />sampled. The MDH plans to sample an additional <br />eight wells in the immediate area and will provide <br />the results to the community when they are <br />available.” There will also be ground testing for <br />contamination in the affected area. <br /> <br />Legislation that May Benefit Residents in the <br />Area <br />Minnesota Senate Bill #2307 and Minnesota <br />House Companion Bill #2368 are making their way <br />through the Congress. If these bills pass, the <br />$4.5M in the general environmental fund will be <br />moved to a TCE emission response account <br />that will be made available to Gem Lake, White <br />Bear Township and the City of White Bear to <br />spend locally. This is a unique opportunity for our <br />communities. If you internet search for the bills, <br />you can read the actual legislation. If you have any <br />questions that haven’t been answered about this <br />issue, please attend the next Gem Lake City <br />Council meeting and bring them up. We will do our <br />best to answer or to direct you to sources of <br />information. <br /> <br /> <br />Gem Lake Villas Continue to <br />Sell Well <br />Home sales continue to go well within the Gem <br />Lake Villas project on County Road E. <br />As of mid-April, a total of 14 of the 30 home sites <br />are spoken for, according to Katie Brown, New <br />Home Consultant for Hanson Builders, Inc., which <br />is constructing the project. In addition, there are <br />two “quick move in” homes available for sale. The <br />project began last Spring on land once owned by <br />Tom Hansen. <br /> <br />lawsuit to compel WG to comply with what are <br />agreed upon terms. The SA includes a significant <br />fine of $7M. A portion of this ($4.5M) was <br />deposited into the state environmental fund. The <br />remaining monies are dedicated to other <br />purposes as described in the data pack mailed <br />this past month to Gem Lake residents. <br /> <br />All of that said, other factors were involved in the <br />short duration of WG agreeing to the Stipulation <br />Agreement, most importantly and simply it was <br />supply chain economics. The WG facility <br />manufactures enough terminals for 60,000,000 <br />batteries per year, accounting for 50% of battery <br />demand in the United States. These terminals are <br />used on dozens of varieties of battery types <br />including automobiles, golf carts, lawn tractors, <br />uninterruptable power supplies, etc. Because the <br />production line had been shut down from January <br />14 through March 1, 2019, other manufacturing <br />facilities throughout the United States that rely on <br />WG battery terminals were having to shut down <br />their operations. This ripple effect was the <br />motivating factor for WG to settle the matter <br />quickly. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />What is Being Done Now <br />Per a document available at the MDH website as <br />of April 2019: “There is no information to indicate <br />that drinking water is affected by the contaminate <br />releases from the Water Gremlin facility at this <br />time. To provide additional reassurance to <br />residents near the Water Gremlin facility, <br />Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) began <br />sampling a select number of private wells that <br />represent groundwater near the facility. Water <br />samples were analyzed at the MDH Public Health <br />breakdown <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />