Landfill plan draws fire
St. Augustine residents voice opposition
KATI BEXLEY
kati.bexley@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 12/14/07
St. Augustine's agreement with the state to fix the city's illegal dumping of landfill material into a borrow pit could be put on hold.
On Thursday, Lincolnville neighborhood resident Tony Seraphim said he was going to file a petition against St. Augustine's consent order with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Because the landfill is in Seraphim's neighborhood, he can petition the city's agreement, which would freeze the contract while the petition was investigated, said John Regan, city chief operations officer.
"As far as I'm concerned, indictments are not out of the question," he said Thursday night at a Lincolnville Neighborhood Association meeting on the topic.
In 2005, city staff took dirt from an old landfill site on Riberia Street, in Lincolnville, and dumped it into a water-filled borrow pit on Holmes Boulevard.
To fix the massive mistake, the city struck an agreement with the state to put the materials back on the landfill site and form a 19-foot mound that's monitored to prevent groundwater intrusion.
But, at the meeting Thursday, residents said they were against that plan.
Ed Slavin, one of the speakers at the meeting, said dumping the material back into Lincolnville, a predominately black neighborhood, would be a case of "PIBBY, Place In Blacks Backyard."
"(Martin Luther King Jr.) said St. Augustine was the most lawless city in America," Slavin said. "We're here to tell you that's going to stop."
Slavin, and others at the meeting, wants the waste taken to a landfill.
The city scrapped that option because tipping fees alone could cost the city $1 million-$2 million. And putting the material back on the original site would cost about $800,000.
There were also very low traces of arsenic and other toxins found in the material, according to studies by laboratories paid by the city. Slavin wants an independent source to sample the material.
Regan said he would be happy to see that happen and would supply city funding for the sampling.
Among the roughly 50 people who attended the meeting were City Commissioners George Gardner and Errol Jones and several city employees. Members of DEP were also in the audience but did not speak at the meeting.
Regan said the city will host an informational public meeting on Jan. 10. Seraphim requested it be held, not at City Hall, but at the St. Paul AME church, site of Thursday's meeting.
"We want it in our neighborhood," Seraphim said. "We don't trust you."
Regan agreed with the request.
Carrie Johnson, a well-known resident who has lived in Lincolnville for years, said the city plan's for the landfill "is frightening to me."
"I have always felt like Lincolnville is the stepchild. We're the last ones to get any attention," she said. "I want to see Lincolnville be what it is, a great place."
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© The St. Augustine Record
Friday, December 14, 2007
You've got to hand it to the ancien regime in St. Augustine, Florida. Whether cutting down a bald eagle nest tree (Pierre Thompson, below) .....
You've got to hand it to the ancien regime in St. Augustine, Florida. Whether cutting down a bald eagle nest tree (Pierre Thompson, below) or taking the contents of the old city dump and putting it in the Old City Reservoir, the Establishment in these parts is pure brass, with no class. They have
contempt for Mother Nature, law and the will of the people. We're cleaning up our city of St. Augustine and St. Johns County and with your help we'll continue doing so. Celebrate diversity and democracy.
contempt for Mother Nature, law and the will of the people. We're cleaning up our city of St. Augustine and St. Johns County and with your help we'll continue doing so. Celebrate diversity and democracy.
SPECULATOR PIERRE THOMPSON'S COMPANY PLEAdS GUILTY TO MOLESTING BALD EAGLE ON OCTOBER 8, 2001 IN ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA
Company pleads guilty to disturbing bald eagle
The Florida Times-Union
Publication Date: 12/14/07
A St. Johns County real estate company pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a misdemeanor charge of disturbing a bald eagle.
Thompson Bros. Realty admitted it cut down a pine tree where a bald eagle pair was nesting in October 2001 on Fish Island in St. Augustine.
According to the plea agreement with prosecutors, the company said it would donate 15 acres of wetlands on Fish Island for conservation in lieu of fines, which can have been as high as $200,000. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 6, so the agreement is not final until approved by a judge, who could decide to impose lesser or stiffer penalties.
Thompson and his attorney declined to comment.
Christine Gilman, who originally complained about the incident and photographed the eagles circling the felled tree, called it good news.
"I am really happy to hear that finally there's closure," she said.
Steve Cole, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Tampa, said he hoped it would send a message to developers and property owners that there are consequences for tampering with bald eagles and their nests.
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© The St. Augustine Record
The Florida Times-Union
Publication Date: 12/14/07
A St. Johns County real estate company pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a misdemeanor charge of disturbing a bald eagle.
Thompson Bros. Realty admitted it cut down a pine tree where a bald eagle pair was nesting in October 2001 on Fish Island in St. Augustine.
According to the plea agreement with prosecutors, the company said it would donate 15 acres of wetlands on Fish Island for conservation in lieu of fines, which can have been as high as $200,000. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 6, so the agreement is not final until approved by a judge, who could decide to impose lesser or stiffer penalties.
Thompson and his attorney declined to comment.
Christine Gilman, who originally complained about the incident and photographed the eagles circling the felled tree, called it good news.
"I am really happy to hear that finally there's closure," she said.
Steve Cole, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Tampa, said he hoped it would send a message to developers and property owners that there are consequences for tampering with bald eagles and their nests.
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© The St. Augustine Record
Thursday, December 13, 2007
JOHN REGAN, HEIR-APPARENT TO CITY MANAGER WILLIAM HARRISS, SHOWS TRUE COLORS IN HOSTILITY TO PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF ST. AUGUSTINE'S ILLEGAL DUMPING
Mr. John Regan is the heir apparent to controversial City of St. Augustine City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS.
This is what apparatchik Regan wrote to City of St. Augustine Public Relations Director Paul Williamson on February 27, 2006 in response to our initial questions on the illegal dumping by our City of St. Augustine in our Old City Reservoir:
"Suggested RESPONSE: 'Your request for information
has been forwarded to the City Attorney for response.' THE END. - And do not respond to anymore (sic) of his E- mails unless the above is the response.' Any further attempt to 'answer' any of his outlandish (sic) and absurd (sic) questions and accusations only serves to fuel his misguided (sic) filibustering (sic) and empty (sic) threats (sic). He has nothing (sic) else (sic) to do with his life and his only (sic) 'contact' with the outside world is through emails (sic). Suggest allowing Wilson to "handle" the responses.
JR
This is what apparatchik Regan wrote to City of St. Augustine Public Relations Director Paul Williamson on February 27, 2006 in response to our initial questions on the illegal dumping by our City of St. Augustine in our Old City Reservoir:
"Suggested RESPONSE: 'Your request for information
has been forwarded to the City Attorney for response.' THE END. - And do not respond to anymore (sic) of his E- mails unless the above is the response.' Any further attempt to 'answer' any of his outlandish (sic) and absurd (sic) questions and accusations only serves to fuel his misguided (sic) filibustering (sic) and empty (sic) threats (sic). He has nothing (sic) else (sic) to do with his life and his only (sic) 'contact' with the outside world is through emails (sic). Suggest allowing Wilson to "handle" the responses.
JR
Costs and Causes of Illegal Dumping by City of St. Augustine in Our Old City Reservoir -- Letter to Mr. John Regan
Dear John:
1. Please fax us a printout showing all expenditures on legal and technical work on the Holmes Blvd and Riberia Street site environmental issues. If any have been paid by insurance, please provide the documentation. If not, we assume that the pollution exclusion means all costs of our City's intentional dumping will be paid by the people.
2. Please ask Mr. William Pence and the law firm of Akerman, Senterfitt to preserve and provide for inspection all paper and electronic documents not already in city files, including but not limited to all employee interviews and documents on the search warrant and criminal issues.
3. Please ask Geosyntec and other contractors to provide for inspection and copying all paper and electronic documents on the two sites for inspection and copying, including QA/QC and TQM data, the curriculum vitae of all persons working on the project and all discussions with DEP, the City and Akerman, Senterfitt.
4. I look forward to seeing you at tonight's Lincolnville Neighborhood Association meeting. We expect that you will kindly answer our questions at tonight's meeting -- questions that we've been respectfully and pateintly asking since February 24, 2006. You will find the questions in your file, the first of which located under your February 27, 2006 E-mail to City of St. Augustine Public Relations Director Paul Williamson, stating inter alia regarding our initial February 24, 2006 questions on the illegal dumping by our City of St. Augustine in our Old City Reservoir:
"Suggested RESPONSE: 'Your request for information has been forwarded to the City Attorney for response.' THE END. - And do not respond to anymore (sic) of his E- mails unless the above is the response.' Any further attempt to 'answer' any of his outlandish (sic) and absurd (sic) questions and accusations only serves to fuel his misguided (sic) filibustering (sic) and empty (sic) threats (sic). He has nothing (sic) else (sic) to do with his life and his only (sic) 'contact' with the outside world is through emails (sic). Suggest allowing Wilson to "handle" the responses.
JR"
Thank you, "JR," in advance for your kind cooperation. We expect that our questions will be answered and that public rights will be respected and not neglected from this day forward.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
Clean Up City of St. Augustine
www.cleanupcityofstau gustine.blogspot.com
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-471-7023
904-471-9918 (fax)
1. Please fax us a printout showing all expenditures on legal and technical work on the Holmes Blvd and Riberia Street site environmental issues. If any have been paid by insurance, please provide the documentation. If not, we assume that the pollution exclusion means all costs of our City's intentional dumping will be paid by the people.
2. Please ask Mr. William Pence and the law firm of Akerman, Senterfitt to preserve and provide for inspection all paper and electronic documents not already in city files, including but not limited to all employee interviews and documents on the search warrant and criminal issues.
3. Please ask Geosyntec and other contractors to provide for inspection and copying all paper and electronic documents on the two sites for inspection and copying, including QA/QC and TQM data, the curriculum vitae of all persons working on the project and all discussions with DEP, the City and Akerman, Senterfitt.
4. I look forward to seeing you at tonight's Lincolnville Neighborhood Association meeting. We expect that you will kindly answer our questions at tonight's meeting -- questions that we've been respectfully and pateintly asking since February 24, 2006. You will find the questions in your file, the first of which located under your February 27, 2006 E-mail to City of St. Augustine Public Relations Director Paul Williamson, stating inter alia regarding our initial February 24, 2006 questions on the illegal dumping by our City of St. Augustine in our Old City Reservoir:
"Suggested RESPONSE: 'Your request for information has been forwarded to the City Attorney for response.' THE END. - And do not respond to anymore (sic) of his E- mails unless the above is the response.' Any further attempt to 'answer' any of his outlandish (sic) and absurd (sic) questions and accusations only serves to fuel his misguided (sic) filibustering (sic) and empty (sic) threats (sic). He has nothing (sic) else (sic) to do with his life and his only (sic) 'contact' with the outside world is through emails (sic). Suggest allowing Wilson to "handle" the responses.
JR"
Thank you, "JR," in advance for your kind cooperation. We expect that our questions will be answered and that public rights will be respected and not neglected from this day forward.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
Clean Up City of St. Augustine
www.cleanupcityofstau gustine.blogspot.com
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-471-7023
904-471-9918 (fax)
Florida Times-Union: Lincolnville residents wary over landfill plan
December 13, 2007
Lincolnville residents wary over landfill plan
By DEIRDRE CONNER,
The Times-Union
A plan to clean up after an illegal dumping scandal in St. Augustine is drawing the ire of residents in the city's Lincolnville neighborhood.
The city is preparing to bring solid waste back to the site of the Riberia Street landfill, then smooth it over and cover it with 2 feet of clean dirt.
The plan is part of a settlement the city made with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection last month. A department investigation had found the city was removing waste and lime sludge from the Riberia Street landfill and dumping it in a water-filled pit on city property on Holmes Boulevard, contaminating the groundwater. The city was digging a hole at the Holmes site for another project and moved soil from the landfill to fill it in.
The department fined the city more than $33,000 and required it to clean up the Holmes site. The city also is proposing to eventually turn the Riberia site into a public park.
But the clean-up agreement is angering residents in Lincolnville, a historic area that has recently begun to gentrify.
Judith Seraphim is organizing a meeting for this evening so neighborhood residents can speak out about the matter, because public comment was not allowed at the Nov. 13 meeting where the City Commission approved the final settlement. She called the plan for the Riberia Street site environmental racism, especially in light of the historically black area's struggle for civil rights.
Seraphim said the waste should be taken to a specially lined, Class I landfill, something the city had protested because of the expense. She's worried that residents will be exposed to pollution when the waste is dumped and spread out over the entire 8 acres, and has vowed to stop the plan.
"The city could have kept their costs down by doing it the right way in the first place," she said.
The meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, 85 Martin Luther King Ave. Afterward, Seraphim said, "we're going to be talking to legal [advisers] and we're going to see what happens and what the neighborhood wants."
City and DEP representatives, however, said the plan will benefit the neighborhood.
John Regan, the city's chief operations officer, said the project will "basically make lemonade out of a lemon" by turning the site into a recreation area.
"This is a chance to build a very needed park," Regan said. "The site has excellent birding and wildlife viewing opportunities."
Mike Fitzsimmons, the Northeast District Waste Program administrator, said the Department of Environmental Protection was willing to allow the waste to return to the Riberia Street landfill because it would bring the site under the department's control for the first time. The dump is so old that it predated the department, and therefore wasn't monitored, he said. Now the city will be required to do semiannual groundwater testing and seal the landfill with clean dirt.
"We think that's a significant environmental improvement," Fitzsimmons said.
Because testing at the Riberia Street site has never been done before, the city will have to install wells to monitor the groundwater there. Contamination from arsenic, thallium and vinyl chloride is present in the groundwater at the Holmes Boulevard site, but Riberia won't be tested for months. It's not yet clear what will happen if significant pollution is present.
Remediation could run the gamut from pumping and treating groundwater to possible excavation, Fitzsimmons said.
The department advertised the settlement Saturday, which gives residents until Dec. 29 to formally object to it.
deirdre.conner@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4504
This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/121307/met_225045723.shtml.
Lincolnville residents wary over landfill plan
By DEIRDRE CONNER,
The Times-Union
A plan to clean up after an illegal dumping scandal in St. Augustine is drawing the ire of residents in the city's Lincolnville neighborhood.
The city is preparing to bring solid waste back to the site of the Riberia Street landfill, then smooth it over and cover it with 2 feet of clean dirt.
The plan is part of a settlement the city made with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection last month. A department investigation had found the city was removing waste and lime sludge from the Riberia Street landfill and dumping it in a water-filled pit on city property on Holmes Boulevard, contaminating the groundwater. The city was digging a hole at the Holmes site for another project and moved soil from the landfill to fill it in.
The department fined the city more than $33,000 and required it to clean up the Holmes site. The city also is proposing to eventually turn the Riberia site into a public park.
But the clean-up agreement is angering residents in Lincolnville, a historic area that has recently begun to gentrify.
Judith Seraphim is organizing a meeting for this evening so neighborhood residents can speak out about the matter, because public comment was not allowed at the Nov. 13 meeting where the City Commission approved the final settlement. She called the plan for the Riberia Street site environmental racism, especially in light of the historically black area's struggle for civil rights.
Seraphim said the waste should be taken to a specially lined, Class I landfill, something the city had protested because of the expense. She's worried that residents will be exposed to pollution when the waste is dumped and spread out over the entire 8 acres, and has vowed to stop the plan.
"The city could have kept their costs down by doing it the right way in the first place," she said.
The meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, 85 Martin Luther King Ave. Afterward, Seraphim said, "we're going to be talking to legal [advisers] and we're going to see what happens and what the neighborhood wants."
City and DEP representatives, however, said the plan will benefit the neighborhood.
John Regan, the city's chief operations officer, said the project will "basically make lemonade out of a lemon" by turning the site into a recreation area.
"This is a chance to build a very needed park," Regan said. "The site has excellent birding and wildlife viewing opportunities."
Mike Fitzsimmons, the Northeast District Waste Program administrator, said the Department of Environmental Protection was willing to allow the waste to return to the Riberia Street landfill because it would bring the site under the department's control for the first time. The dump is so old that it predated the department, and therefore wasn't monitored, he said. Now the city will be required to do semiannual groundwater testing and seal the landfill with clean dirt.
"We think that's a significant environmental improvement," Fitzsimmons said.
Because testing at the Riberia Street site has never been done before, the city will have to install wells to monitor the groundwater there. Contamination from arsenic, thallium and vinyl chloride is present in the groundwater at the Holmes Boulevard site, but Riberia won't be tested for months. It's not yet clear what will happen if significant pollution is present.
Remediation could run the gamut from pumping and treating groundwater to possible excavation, Fitzsimmons said.
The department advertised the settlement Saturday, which gives residents until Dec. 29 to formally object to it.
deirdre.conner@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4504
This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/121307/met_225045723.shtml.
Letter: DEP meeting's tonight on Lincolnville dump
Letter: DEP meeting's tonight on Lincolnville dump
Judith Seraphin
Lincolnville, St. Augustine
Publication Date: 12/13/07
Editor: The St. Augustine City Commissioners and City Manager Bill Harriss have a special Christmas present for Lincolnville: a new park. But we don't want it.
The proposed park will be eight acres wide and 18 feet high. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) told us it was "potentially hazardous" material. It was illegally dumped, without a permit, into the Old City Reservoir in West Augustine. This goes directly to the aquifer, and to Florida's drinking water.
The DEP caught the city, fined them $33,000 and ruled that the potentially hazardous waste must be removed, and put into the state-approved Class 1 Landfill, where it should have been put in the first place. The city has decided to try to save money, and do it the cheaper way, and is going to dump this waste into Lincolnville, cover it with a few feet of dirt, and call it a park.
Wrong. Lincolnville has been the city's dumping grounds in the past but no more. The dumping days are over.
Come out to a meeting and give city officials your views. City Commissioners and Harris have been invited. Tell these officials, "no more dumping."
If you did it right the first time, you wouldn't be in this mess now.
The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. tonight at St. Paul A.M.E. Church, 85 Martin Luther King Ave. This meeting is being sponsored by the Lincolnville Neighborhood Association.
Come out and make your voice heard.
Judith Seraphin
Lincolnville
St. Augustine
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© The St. Augustine Record
Judith Seraphin
Lincolnville, St. Augustine
Publication Date: 12/13/07
Editor: The St. Augustine City Commissioners and City Manager Bill Harriss have a special Christmas present for Lincolnville: a new park. But we don't want it.
The proposed park will be eight acres wide and 18 feet high. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) told us it was "potentially hazardous" material. It was illegally dumped, without a permit, into the Old City Reservoir in West Augustine. This goes directly to the aquifer, and to Florida's drinking water.
The DEP caught the city, fined them $33,000 and ruled that the potentially hazardous waste must be removed, and put into the state-approved Class 1 Landfill, where it should have been put in the first place. The city has decided to try to save money, and do it the cheaper way, and is going to dump this waste into Lincolnville, cover it with a few feet of dirt, and call it a park.
Wrong. Lincolnville has been the city's dumping grounds in the past but no more. The dumping days are over.
Come out to a meeting and give city officials your views. City Commissioners and Harris have been invited. Tell these officials, "no more dumping."
If you did it right the first time, you wouldn't be in this mess now.
The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. tonight at St. Paul A.M.E. Church, 85 Martin Luther King Ave. This meeting is being sponsored by the Lincolnville Neighborhood Association.
Come out and make your voice heard.
Judith Seraphin
Lincolnville
St. Augustine
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© The St. Augustine Record
Letter: Don't dump in Lincolnville
Letter: Don't dump in Lincolnville
David Thundershield Queen
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 12/13/07
Editor: City officials will participate in an important community meeting tonight on the Lincolnville dump site and proposed park at 6:30 p.m. at St. Paul A.M.E. Church, 85 M.L. King Ave.
Controversial City Manager William Harriss earlier ordered 10 percent of the waste from the old Riberia Street dump to be removed and illegally dumped in the Old City Reservoir in West Augustine. Now, they want to return material back to Lincolnville. Lincolnville residents/concerned citizens should push for all debris which may include toxic materials such as arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, and dioxins to be taken to a proper disposal site.
Capping old toxic sites is in vogue at the federal EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and is often allowed by Florida Department of Environmental Protection because both agencies were earlier ransacked by the George W./Jeb Bush administrations.
These agencies under GOP control violate or ignore their own laws while endangering public health and safety. Their departments are headed by managers chosen for their "friendliness" to corporate interests, polluters and developers. DEP's acronym has become "Don't Expect Protection."
"Capping" isn't the best cleanup practice but is the cheapest. It saves corporate polluters and municipalities money but doesn't adequately address potential Floridan Aquifer contamination.
You wouldn't see capping in a wealthy white community where the dump wouldn't have been sited in the first place. It's called environmental racism.
The environmental justice movement sprang up in the 1990s to counter landfills, toxic waste dumps, fuel "tank farms" and major highway sitings which selectively target economically disadvantaged communities. Three out of five blacks in the United States live in communities with uncontrolled waste sites.
The right thing must be done. The dump site must be cleaned up and trucked off to a state-approved, Class 1 (or higher) disposal site.
Then parks would be welcomed in West Augustine and Lincolnville.
David Thundershield Queen
St. Augustine
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© The St. Augustine Record
David Thundershield Queen
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 12/13/07
Editor: City officials will participate in an important community meeting tonight on the Lincolnville dump site and proposed park at 6:30 p.m. at St. Paul A.M.E. Church, 85 M.L. King Ave.
Controversial City Manager William Harriss earlier ordered 10 percent of the waste from the old Riberia Street dump to be removed and illegally dumped in the Old City Reservoir in West Augustine. Now, they want to return material back to Lincolnville. Lincolnville residents/concerned citizens should push for all debris which may include toxic materials such as arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, and dioxins to be taken to a proper disposal site.
Capping old toxic sites is in vogue at the federal EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and is often allowed by Florida Department of Environmental Protection because both agencies were earlier ransacked by the George W./Jeb Bush administrations.
These agencies under GOP control violate or ignore their own laws while endangering public health and safety. Their departments are headed by managers chosen for their "friendliness" to corporate interests, polluters and developers. DEP's acronym has become "Don't Expect Protection."
"Capping" isn't the best cleanup practice but is the cheapest. It saves corporate polluters and municipalities money but doesn't adequately address potential Floridan Aquifer contamination.
You wouldn't see capping in a wealthy white community where the dump wouldn't have been sited in the first place. It's called environmental racism.
The environmental justice movement sprang up in the 1990s to counter landfills, toxic waste dumps, fuel "tank farms" and major highway sitings which selectively target economically disadvantaged communities. Three out of five blacks in the United States live in communities with uncontrolled waste sites.
The right thing must be done. The dump site must be cleaned up and trucked off to a state-approved, Class 1 (or higher) disposal site.
Then parks would be welcomed in West Augustine and Lincolnville.
David Thundershield Queen
St. Augustine
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/121307/opinions_news1_B26.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
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