Assessment of hazards and removal before Dempster facility can be demolished
BEATRICE – Assessment of what’s been abandoned at the former Dempster Manufacturing Company building in south Beatrice continues, and it’s a painstakingly slow process.
Mayor Stan Wirth says federal and state environmental officials have been evaluating the abandoned company plant…for what is there and what must be removed. "There was a pumper truck and a tanker that was outside of the Dempster's facility and removed about eight thousand gallons of old diesel fuel that was in a storage tank on the property. That was just another step in all of the steps that need to be taken to rid the property of disagreeable materials. Sometimes we look at that quart jar and have no idea what's in that quart jar."
Asbestos removal from the plant is another job to be tackled. Even when cleanup is completed, Wirth says demolishing the entire plant isn’t something that can proceed without hurdles to jump over. "We don't own Dempster Industries, today. We will pick off those pieces as they become available on tax sales. Hopefully we won't have to spend an arm and a leg to buy those back taxes. But, if we're going to rid the community of that property, that's what we're going to have to do and it could be expensive."
The Dempster Mill Company was established in 1878 and manufactured water pumps and the famous windmills still seen on some farms across the nation. A Homestead National Historical Park account indicates the Beatrice plant opened in 1899. It also helped produce 90-millimeter shells during World War Two, in addition to its farm equipment. Peak employment once stood at over 500 workers. In more recent years, the company began making sprayers and recycling trailers….for a while using a part of the plant…but later manufacturing them off-site.
Wirth says because the city is on federal environmental officials’ timeline, it’s difficult to pinpoint when any demolition work can get underway. It’s possible that demolition of a part of west area of the plant could proceed a little faster. "We were hoping that on some of the parcels that we do now own...of course those parcels don't have any buildings on them, today...and people need to understand, there's like thirteen or fourteen different parcels. Each parcel is it's own entity, if you would. Each parcel comes up for a tax sale at a certain point in time. It's kind of laddered...we have to pick those off one at a time as they become available, so it's a long process...it's going to take several years before this is going to be completed."
The building is condemned and was posted long ago to keep trespassers out. Despite that, police occasionally have been called to the property to investigate trespassers stealing items off the property that could be sold.
