At last night's City of St. Augustine budget hearing, City Mayor JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, JR. and City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS refused to answer questions about why the cost of cleaning up illegal dumping of the contents of the old illegal city dump into our Old City Reservoir are not included in the budget.
Former EPA Region 4 Regional Administrator John Henry Hankinson said last year that the coquina pit lake is an "open sore going right down into the aquifer and the groundwater."
For 1.5 years, our City has slowdanced with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), which my friend David Thundershield Queen says really stands for "Don't Expect Protection."
Under political pressure, DEP criminal investigators did not interview City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS, our then- Mayor, or any of the Commissioners.
A consent decree was promised months ago.
It is still (supposedly) being worked on by DEP and our City's
AKERMAN SENTERFITT environmental attorney, WILLIAM PENCE.
Meanwhile, City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS is still our City Manager, after trying to "save money" by ordering illegal dumping.
Wonder why?
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