A Mandan legislator wants the state to consider establishing a fund to help communities recover economically from contamination.

Rep. Todd Porter, R-Mandan, is the main sponsor of House Concurrent Resolution 3010, which seeks a study of setting up a program similar to federal Brownfields or superfund programs.

Porter said such a fund would be used for economic development of contaminated areas, and would have nothing to do with cleanup.

Diesel was discovered underneath downtown Mandan decades ago, but lawsuits against Burlington Northern Santa Fe for allegedly leaking the fuel into the ground ended last year, resulting in a $30.25 million settlement to the city of Mandan and the state.

Porter said Mandan's central business district has been economically devastated from the spill.

If a fund was established, it would not be specific to Mandan, Porter said.

"While the city of Mandan is probably the area that brought this all to light, there are other areas across the state that are truly affected by this," Porter said.

Dave Glatt, chief of environmental section for the health department, testified in favor of the study.

Glatt said suggested that some kind of fund also could be set up for cleanup.

"One example is establishment of a cleanup fund designed to address the remediation of contaminated property for which no viable owner or responsible party can be located," Glatt said.

The Senate Natural Resources Committee gave the resolution a unanimous "do pass" recommendation on Thursday.

Porter said the proposal needs to be studied first to determine how many sites in the state would utilize the fund to determine the size and scope of a program.

The resolution is one of two pieces of legislation Porter has introduced to address revitalization of Mandan from the diesel spill.

Porter also is the main sponsor of House Bill 1279, which would allow the health department to issue regulatory assurances or exemptions from future environmental regulatory action to interested landowners.

The bill is aimed at alleviating concerns from banks and property owners for being responsible for future cleanup or liability because of contamination that existed before they owned the property.

That bill has passed the House, but has not been voted on in the Senate.

(Reach reporter Tom Rafferty at 223-8482 or tom.rafferty@bismarcktribine.com.)