On January 10th, Lincolnville and West Augustine residents eloquently confronted officials who first dumped solid waste in a coquina pit lake long used for bass fishing and swimming, with the city's lawyer (William Pence of Akerman Senterfitt) resembling a character in "Erin Brockovich" or "A Civil Action," actually stating he would drink the water.
One resident reporting that all the fish were dead; Pence demanded to know how the people got on "private property." Following the lead of three small newspapers (The Collective Press, The Chronicle and Out in the City), Folio Weekly has done yeoman work catching up on St. Augustine's dumping scandals, with more on the way.
The Wreckord devoted only a small story to the meeting in an historic church, not even reporting citizens sang "We Shall Overcome" after their victory in a place where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led St. Augustine to respect civil rights and civil liberties. The Wreckord cheated its readers from in-depth coverage.
That sound you heard Monday night, January 14th was concrete breaking of the Berlin Wall. Commissioner Errol Jones, who made the motion to ship solid waste back to Lincolnville, changed his mind after attending the January 10th Lincolnville meeting. Jones pressed Commissioners January 13th to eliminate Lincolnville as a destination for the solid waste.
The St. Augustine Record has dropped the ball, printing City of St. Augustine "spin."
Friday, January 18, 2008
"We shall overcome" (copyrighted by Pete Seeger, Guy Carawan and Frank Hamilton)
1.
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
CHORUS:
Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome some day
2.
We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand some day
CHORUS
3.
We shall all be free
We shall all be free
We shall all be free some day
CHORUS
4.
We are not afraid
We are not afraid
We are not afraid some day
CHORUS
5.
We are not alone
We are not alone
We are not alone some day
CHORUS
6.
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around some day
CHORUS
7.
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
CHORUS
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
CHORUS:
Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome some day
2.
We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand some day
CHORUS
3.
We shall all be free
We shall all be free
We shall all be free some day
CHORUS
4.
We are not afraid
We are not afraid
We are not afraid some day
CHORUS
5.
We are not alone
We are not alone
We are not alone some day
CHORUS
6.
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around some day
CHORUS
7.
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
CHORUS
Letter: Democracy worked at Riberia landfill meeting
Letter: Democracy worked at Riberia landfill meeting
Peg McIntire -- Member of People for Peace & Justice
Director of Grandparents for Peace -- St. Augustine
Publication Date: 01/18/08
Editor: The spirit of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was alive and well at the recent meeting to protest a landfill on Riberia Street. Ed Slavin termed it "environmental racism."
St. Paul's A.M.E. Church was "standing room only."
The issue has been covered in the press at previous meetings and on several occasions. But I found this last meeting more intense and more constructive.
At least a dozen concerned St. Augustine citizens, not only the residents of Lincolnville, spoke intelligently and passionately, demanding that the city of St. Augustine "do the right thing"... cancel the planned project (presently at a standstill). It was exciting to see democracy at work. It was inspiring to close the evening singing "We Shall Overcome."
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/011808/opinions_029.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Peg McIntire -- Member of People for Peace & Justice
Director of Grandparents for Peace -- St. Augustine
Publication Date: 01/18/08
Editor: The spirit of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was alive and well at the recent meeting to protest a landfill on Riberia Street. Ed Slavin termed it "environmental racism."
St. Paul's A.M.E. Church was "standing room only."
The issue has been covered in the press at previous meetings and on several occasions. But I found this last meeting more intense and more constructive.
At least a dozen concerned St. Augustine citizens, not only the residents of Lincolnville, spoke intelligently and passionately, demanding that the city of St. Augustine "do the right thing"... cancel the planned project (presently at a standstill). It was exciting to see democracy at work. It was inspiring to close the evening singing "We Shall Overcome."
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/011808/opinions_029.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Trusting soul award goes to the Wreckord for claiming illegal dumping wasn't criminal (below)
Trusting soul award goes to the St. Augustine Wreckord for running a one-sided story reporting that the Inspector General of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection had found blameless DEP's refusal to prosecute criminally St. Augustine City officials -- who dumped solid waste into a coquina lake that it is "an open sore going straight down to the aquifer and the groundwater," according to former EPA Regional Administrator John Henry Hankinson.
The Wreckord did not ask me for comment, while reporting the complaint to DEP IG on page one.
The Wreckord has never acknowledged my offer to share documents on the FDEP criminal investigation coverup, with Captain Grea Beavis writing he would not prosecute St. Augustine because of a three-day Florida Chamber of Commerce environmental conference held in Marco Island, Florida in July 2006.
The FDEP also found no motive for our City's dumping (ignoring the millions in cost savings).
The Wreckord's headline resembled one in East Tennessee in 1983, where a Courthouse gang newspaper (Clinton Courier News) falsely reported on page one that a federal grand jury cleared (issued a "no true bill") on Sheriff Dennis O. Trotter. There are no "no true bills" in federal criminal procedure. Trotter was indicted and imprisoned -- when he left prison, he ended up paying me to setttle a lawsuit over his having stirred up a bogus by bail bondsmen (who also pled guilty and paid for their efforts to stifle free speech).
I've asked Governor Charles Crist's Inspector General to investigate the coverup by the FDEP Inspector General. The Wreckord is guilty of journalistic malpractice.
The Wreckord did not ask me for comment, while reporting the complaint to DEP IG on page one.
The Wreckord has never acknowledged my offer to share documents on the FDEP criminal investigation coverup, with Captain Grea Beavis writing he would not prosecute St. Augustine because of a three-day Florida Chamber of Commerce environmental conference held in Marco Island, Florida in July 2006.
The FDEP also found no motive for our City's dumping (ignoring the millions in cost savings).
The Wreckord's headline resembled one in East Tennessee in 1983, where a Courthouse gang newspaper (Clinton Courier News) falsely reported on page one that a federal grand jury cleared (issued a "no true bill") on Sheriff Dennis O. Trotter. There are no "no true bills" in federal criminal procedure. Trotter was indicted and imprisoned -- when he left prison, he ended up paying me to setttle a lawsuit over his having stirred up a bogus by bail bondsmen (who also pled guilty and paid for their efforts to stifle free speech).
I've asked Governor Charles Crist's Inspector General to investigate the coverup by the FDEP Inspector General. The Wreckord is guilty of journalistic malpractice.
Report: Nothing criminal in illegal dumping
Report: Nothing criminal in illegal dumping
KATI BEXLEY
kati.bexley@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 01/16/08
An investigation released Tuesday upholds the Florida Department of Enviornmental Protection's finding that the city did nothing criminal in its illegal dumping of landfill material.
DEP's office of Inspector General investigated the issue after receiving a call from Ed Slavin, an activist who said Environmental Protection did not do a thorough job on the case.
The Inspector General's Office submitted a report stating "(DEP) ... followed their adopted case criteria and acted within the boundaries of their powers of discretion when they elected to close their investigation into the City of St. Augustine. ..."
The city was fined by DEP and investigated for removing dirt from an inactive landfill along the San Sebastian River to regrow the marsh and redevelop wetlands. The contaminated dirt was dumped in a borrow pit on Holmes Boulevard.
The city entered an agreement with Environmental Protection to fix the issue, but residents were against the plan and filed a petition.
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/011608/news_txt_017.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
KATI BEXLEY
kati.bexley@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 01/16/08
An investigation released Tuesday upholds the Florida Department of Enviornmental Protection's finding that the city did nothing criminal in its illegal dumping of landfill material.
DEP's office of Inspector General investigated the issue after receiving a call from Ed Slavin, an activist who said Environmental Protection did not do a thorough job on the case.
The Inspector General's Office submitted a report stating "(DEP) ... followed their adopted case criteria and acted within the boundaries of their powers of discretion when they elected to close their investigation into the City of St. Augustine. ..."
The city was fined by DEP and investigated for removing dirt from an inactive landfill along the San Sebastian River to regrow the marsh and redevelop wetlands. The contaminated dirt was dumped in a borrow pit on Holmes Boulevard.
The city entered an agreement with Environmental Protection to fix the issue, but residents were against the plan and filed a petition.
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/011608/news_txt_017.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
On the use of words like "exclusive" and "upscale" and "high-quality visitors" to describe new WESTIN
How pompous, insecure and indescribably boring. Sounds like mendacious tree-killing speculator mouthpiece GEORGE MccLURE is writing fot the St. Augustine Record. See below.
Westin coming to St. Augustine
The Florida Times-Union
January 17, 2008
Westin coming to St. Augustine
By MARCIA LANE,
St. Augustine Record
ST. AUGUSTINE - A Westin Hotel, one of the most exclusive hoteliers in the county, will anchor the San Sebastian Harbor Resort project, ending months of speculation over what hotel will locate there.
What that means for St. Augustine will be a luxury resort with worldwide name recognition and a clientele expected to generate more tourism dollars for the city.
"The Westin is a perfect fit for the San Sebastian Harbor Resort," said Wally Devlin, CEO of The Devlin Group Inc. He recently said negotiations were under way with an upscale hotel company, but declined to name that company until Wednesday.
On Wednesday, San Sebastian Harbor Resort LLC, a subsidiary of The Devlin Cos., announced it had entered an agreement with Westin Operator LLC, a subsidiary of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc.
"The hotel will provide guests with a wonderful place to rest their heads and relax as they enjoy the nation's oldest city. It will also help to attract more tourism dollars to St. Augustine," Devlin said.
Westin Hotels & Resorts has 155 hotels and resorts in more than 31 countries and territories and is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.
Starwood is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with approximately 850 properties in more than 95 counties and 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties.
Construction for the $200 million project is expected to start this fall and be completed by fall 2010.
The Westin St. Augustine and The Residences at The Westin St. Augustine will be located on the nearly 13-acre site along the San Sebastian River in the heart of historic St. Augustine. The project will be just off King Street.
According to a Devlin press release, there will be a convention center for business meetings or special events at the hotel. That's expected to attract a business clientele to the area and may help to extend people's stays.
Also expected to attract visitors will be a luxury spa and high-end retail shops.
Westin St. Augustine will provide Heavenly Bed and Bath, an exclusive Westin offering, for its guests. In-room spa treatments and the Westin Workout are part of the offering.
Also on the nearly 13-acre site off King Street will be upscale condominiums to be known as The Residences at The Westin St. Augustine. A 65-slip marina with boardwalk promenade is planned also.
Mark Knight, city planning and building department director, said the Devlin group has asked for a 90-day extension for the San Sebastian's building permit. He said that was so they could find a new contractor.
"We're holding the project and waiting for them," Knight said.
Devlin officials said while they are seeking a new contractor, the extension was not for that reason, but in order for plans to reflect the new agreement with Westin.
Knight said the developer had scratched plans for construction of office and retail space at San Marco and May Street.
If Devlin pursues the project in the future, he will have to go through the approval process again with the city.
This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/011708/met_237260677.shtml.
January 17, 2008
Westin coming to St. Augustine
By MARCIA LANE,
St. Augustine Record
ST. AUGUSTINE - A Westin Hotel, one of the most exclusive hoteliers in the county, will anchor the San Sebastian Harbor Resort project, ending months of speculation over what hotel will locate there.
What that means for St. Augustine will be a luxury resort with worldwide name recognition and a clientele expected to generate more tourism dollars for the city.
"The Westin is a perfect fit for the San Sebastian Harbor Resort," said Wally Devlin, CEO of The Devlin Group Inc. He recently said negotiations were under way with an upscale hotel company, but declined to name that company until Wednesday.
On Wednesday, San Sebastian Harbor Resort LLC, a subsidiary of The Devlin Cos., announced it had entered an agreement with Westin Operator LLC, a subsidiary of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc.
"The hotel will provide guests with a wonderful place to rest their heads and relax as they enjoy the nation's oldest city. It will also help to attract more tourism dollars to St. Augustine," Devlin said.
Westin Hotels & Resorts has 155 hotels and resorts in more than 31 countries and territories and is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.
Starwood is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with approximately 850 properties in more than 95 counties and 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties.
Construction for the $200 million project is expected to start this fall and be completed by fall 2010.
The Westin St. Augustine and The Residences at The Westin St. Augustine will be located on the nearly 13-acre site along the San Sebastian River in the heart of historic St. Augustine. The project will be just off King Street.
According to a Devlin press release, there will be a convention center for business meetings or special events at the hotel. That's expected to attract a business clientele to the area and may help to extend people's stays.
Also expected to attract visitors will be a luxury spa and high-end retail shops.
Westin St. Augustine will provide Heavenly Bed and Bath, an exclusive Westin offering, for its guests. In-room spa treatments and the Westin Workout are part of the offering.
Also on the nearly 13-acre site off King Street will be upscale condominiums to be known as The Residences at The Westin St. Augustine. A 65-slip marina with boardwalk promenade is planned also.
Mark Knight, city planning and building department director, said the Devlin group has asked for a 90-day extension for the San Sebastian's building permit. He said that was so they could find a new contractor.
"We're holding the project and waiting for them," Knight said.
Devlin officials said while they are seeking a new contractor, the extension was not for that reason, but in order for plans to reflect the new agreement with Westin.
Knight said the developer had scratched plans for construction of office and retail space at San Marco and May Street.
If Devlin pursues the project in the future, he will have to go through the approval process again with the city.
This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/011708/met_237260677.shtml.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
FOX NEWS 30: St. Augustine residents don’t want dump in their neighborhood (January 9th)
St. Augustine residents don’t want dump in their neighborhood
Contributor: Brandon Westerman
Email: bwesterman@ccjax.com
Last Update: 1/10 11:50 am
Print Story | Email Story
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- Some people in the Lincolnville Community in downtown St. Augustine are fighting to stop the city from reopening a dump near their neighborhood.
The community is upset over plans to move the waste from the dump back to the Riberia Street site. Residents are concerned over the health and environmental effects.
Right now, the site is over on Holmes Boulevard.
Residents can voice their concerns Thursday night [January 10th] at 6 p.m. at the St. Paul AME Church on Martin Luther King Avenue.
Contributor: Brandon Westerman
Email: bwesterman@ccjax.com
Last Update: 1/10 11:50 am
Print Story | Email Story
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- Some people in the Lincolnville Community in downtown St. Augustine are fighting to stop the city from reopening a dump near their neighborhood.
The community is upset over plans to move the waste from the dump back to the Riberia Street site. Residents are concerned over the health and environmental effects.
Right now, the site is over on Holmes Boulevard.
Residents can voice their concerns Thursday night [January 10th] at 6 p.m. at the St. Paul AME Church on Martin Luther King Avenue.
City weighs landfill options
City weighs landfill options
KATI BEXLEY
kati.bexley@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 01/15/08
After months of public outcry, St. Augustine's City Commission decided Monday to research new options handling the city's illegal dumping of landfill material instead of returning it to a Lincolnville neighborhood site.
City staff will explore four new options, including leaving the material where it is, in a borrow pit on a Holmes Boulevard site, or removing the material, screening it with large equipment and taking out solid waste, and then entombing the leftover soil on the city-owned Holmes Boulevard site.
The commission agreed staff will no longer look at returning the material to the Riberia Street site in Lincolnville, where it was originally taken from.
The issue began when the city removed the dirt from an inactive landfill along the San Sebastian River to regrow the marsh and redevelop wetlands. The contaminated dirt was dumped in a borrow pit on North Holmes Boulevard
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection fined the city $33,698. The city agreed to clean the pit and put the dirt back on the Riberia site.
But that plan was put on hold when Lincolnville residents filed a petition against it. The plan will now be reviewed by a judge, a process that could take 150 days.
In the meantime, the city could change what it will do with the site, said John Regan, city chief operations officer.
Commissioner Errol Jones recently attended two Lincolnville neighborhood meetings, where a couple hundred people were against the city's plan.
"I will fight this battle tomorrow and the next day and the next day (to have the landfill material not be returned to Lincolnville)," Jones told the other commissioners Monday.
Returning the material was the most economical choice, as it would cost $800,000 opposed to paying $1 million to $2 million to dump the material in a landfill, Regan has said.
"Let's not keep talking about Lincolnville in terms of dollars," Jones said. "We're not talking dollars, we're talking about people."
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/011508/news_txt01_002.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
KATI BEXLEY
kati.bexley@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 01/15/08
After months of public outcry, St. Augustine's City Commission decided Monday to research new options handling the city's illegal dumping of landfill material instead of returning it to a Lincolnville neighborhood site.
City staff will explore four new options, including leaving the material where it is, in a borrow pit on a Holmes Boulevard site, or removing the material, screening it with large equipment and taking out solid waste, and then entombing the leftover soil on the city-owned Holmes Boulevard site.
The commission agreed staff will no longer look at returning the material to the Riberia Street site in Lincolnville, where it was originally taken from.
The issue began when the city removed the dirt from an inactive landfill along the San Sebastian River to regrow the marsh and redevelop wetlands. The contaminated dirt was dumped in a borrow pit on North Holmes Boulevard
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection fined the city $33,698. The city agreed to clean the pit and put the dirt back on the Riberia site.
But that plan was put on hold when Lincolnville residents filed a petition against it. The plan will now be reviewed by a judge, a process that could take 150 days.
In the meantime, the city could change what it will do with the site, said John Regan, city chief operations officer.
Commissioner Errol Jones recently attended two Lincolnville neighborhood meetings, where a couple hundred people were against the city's plan.
"I will fight this battle tomorrow and the next day and the next day (to have the landfill material not be returned to Lincolnville)," Jones told the other commissioners Monday.
Returning the material was the most economical choice, as it would cost $800,000 opposed to paying $1 million to $2 million to dump the material in a landfill, Regan has said.
"Let's not keep talking about Lincolnville in terms of dollars," Jones said. "We're not talking dollars, we're talking about people."
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/011508/news_txt01_002.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Monday, January 14, 2008
LINCOLNVILLE AND WEST AUGUSTINE DUMPING SCANDAL – CHRONOLOGY
LINCOLNVILLE AND WEST AUGUSTINE DUMPING SCANDAL – CHRONOLOGY
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.”
— the late U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.)
"Justice delayed is justice denied." – Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
Starting circa 1905
■ Dumping of household trash, sewage sludge and industrial trash in the historic Lincolnville community, from the present location of the Willie Gallimore Center south. This and other dumps in St. Augustine and St. Johns County are never remediated.
■ Location of City’s sewage treatment plant in Lincolnville at south end of Riberia Street.
■ Location of Atlanta Gas Light coal-to-gas plant in Lincolnville at north end of Riberia Street.
■ Location of polluting boatyards in Lincolnville.
■ Location of City’s garage and water treatment plant in West Augustine
June 12, 1964
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. writes letter from jail to clergy, calls CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE “most lawless” city in America. President Johnson signs 1964 Civil Rights Act in July 1964.
1970
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established after first Earth Day.
1988
CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE ceases using Old City Reservoir, still backup water supply.
1991
■ Environmental Justice (EJ) movement begun to remedy low-income and minority communities bearing disproportionate share of dumping and pollution.
■ No evident effort by CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE to examine the legacy of decades of dumping decisions affecting low-income and minority communities of Lincolnville and West Augustine.
1995
Then-City Manager WILLIAM POMAR writes and promises Army Corps of Engineers to dispose of all refuse properly in the creation of an artificial wetland at the south end of Riberia Street.
2000-2005
■ EPA holds public hearings in St. Augustine before approving cleanup of old coal-to-gas plant at location planned for Sebastian Inner Harbor.
■ AKERMAN SENTERFITT lawyer WILLIAM L. PENCE represents the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE as its environmental counsel and is at all times since available to answer questions by City officials on environmental issues..
■ PENCE, asserts that the cleanup of the Sebastian Inner Harbor Project was “successful.”
http://proceedings.swix.ws/2005_10_09_Brownfields/content/pdf/Pence.pdf
September 27, 2005
City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS, signed $200,000 contract for hauling for Riberia Street site, without any City Commission approval sought or required.
December 1, 2005
GREGORY J. STRONG, a marketing executive for a petroleum industry supplier and past environmental regulatory manager for polluters fined hundreds of thousands of dollars by EPA, becomes Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Northeast Florida District Director.
December 9, 2005
St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) biologist, at the Old City Reservoir site, tells CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE officials not to dump without permit. City starts illegal dumping the next day, without ever calling lawyer PENCE at AKERMAN SENTERFITT..
December 10, 2005
Illegal dumping of some 60,000,000 pounds of contaminants – including arsenic, thallium and vinyl chloride – begins in the Old City Reservoir, in secrecy, without public notice.
December 12, 2005
St. Augustine City Commission agrees, without voting, to allow Civil Rights Foot Soldiers Monument in the Slave Market Square (Plaza de la Constitución), rejecting City Manager HARRISS’ claim that only “colonial” history was suitable, while agreeing with HARRISS’ demand that the victims of the City’s discrimination had to raise funds for the monument.
January 9, 2006
■ Certified letter from FDEP responds to permit application, tells St. Augustine not to dump without a permit.
■ Illegal dumping continues in Old City Reservoir.
February 17, 2006
■ Illegal dumping reported to National Response Center in Washington, D.C.. (Report 788280)
■ Illegal dumping continues in Old City Reservoir.
February 24, 2006
■ Mayor GEORGE GARDNER defends illegal dumping, says it’s only “clean fill.”
■ “There are no bedsprings in clean fill” as EPA expert John Marler explains.
■ Former EPA Region 4 Regional Administrator John Henry Hankinson states that the coquina pit lake where the illegal dumping took place is an “open sore going straight down to the aquifer and the groundwater.”
■ City Public Affairs Director Paul Williamson claims that the City’s $30,000 document camera/podium will be unavailable to members of the public February 27 to show any documents or videos.
■ City Manager HARRISS, when asked about whether he had permit, responds: “I’ll get one.“ He never does. Illegal dumping continues in Old City Reservoir.
February 27, 2006
■ Assistant City Manager JOHN REGAN, P.E. tells Ed Slavin that “because of what you [Slavin] have done, it will be a long process.” Ed Slavin tells REGAN that it is the City, not him that did the polluting.
■ REGAN twice asks Ed Slavin for copy of DVD provided to Federal and State environmental crimes investigators.
■ Ed Slavin declines to provide DVD to REGAN, based upon request from Federal and State criminal investigators.
■ REGAN asserts to Ed Slavin that the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE was “in a hurry” to finish wetland remediation in order to begin the Sebastian Inner Harbor Project.
■ REGAN sends E-mail to CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE PUBLIC AFFAIRS MANAGER PAUL WILLIAMSON, inter alia using pejoratives about questions being asked on Respondent COSA’s illegal dumping in 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
■ Mayor GEORGE GARDENER publicly promises “answers” to Ed Slavin’s questions. None provided yet.
■ Illegal dumping continues in Old City Reservoir..
March 1, 2006
■ Illegal dumping continues in Old City Reservoir two (2) days later – FDEP’s Brian Durden photographs illegal dumping after criminal investigators arrive.
■ In the presence of AKERMAN SENTERFITT partner WILLIAM PENCE, Esquire, then-CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE Public Works Director WILLIAM LEETCH and other CITY employees told EPA and FDEP criminal investigators that mainly clean materials were dumped at the Old City Reservoir and only 80 cubic yards of “unsuitable” material were dumped. (PX-12). This information was not accurate.
March 13, 2006
■ Then-Commissioner (now Mayor) JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, JR. says he is “tired” of people “trashing” City Manager HARRISS, which Vice Mayor and Commissioner SUSAN BURK says is only by “one (sic) disgruntled (sic) citizen” raising concerns about illegal dumping.
■ All five City Commissioners vote unanimously to give HARRISS an honor (a plaque) and vote to express their “confidence” in HARRISS.
March 15, 2006
■ FDEP orders the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE to remove the solid waste from the Old City Reservoir lake and put it in a Class I landfill no later than April 17, 2006.
■ Twenty months later, the cleanup has not been done.
■ CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE, AKERMAN SENTERFITT and GEOSYNTEC start spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, delaying Old City Reservoir cleanup by 2-3 years.
March 23, 2006
Clay County Grand Jury indicts three county officials for illegal dumping in widely reported $9,000,000 dumping scandal, which began in 2004.
March 27, 2006
Taxpayer-purchased plaque publicly presented to HARRISS by all five City Commissioners, lavishing praise. Mayor GARDNER, Vice Mayor BURK and Commissioners CRICHLOW, JONES and BOLES are photographed with HARRISS, expressing confidence in him, discouraging cooperation with ongoing criminal investigation and may constitute obstruction of justice. The proclamation stated: P R O C L A M A T I O N
WHEREAS, the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE is extraordinary among places in the world and is fortunate to have William B. “Bill” Harriss as its City Manager, a person whose passion for the City and professional commitment to the City is unmatched; and
WHEREAS, in his more than two decades of service to the people of St. Augustine as Chief Financial Officer, General Services Director, Assistant City Manager and now as City Manager, Mr. Harriss’ philosophy (sic) of administration through strong team-building consistently inspires the City’s more than 350 employees to aspire to do their best, and
WHEREAS, through responsible fiscal planning, Mr. Harriss has ensured the City’s solid financial standing and earned its sound management the highest respect; and
WHEREAS, with honest enthusiasm for the highest level of proficiency in every aspect of his work, Mr. Harriss’ prudent (sic) management has resulted in improved reliability of service for the City’s 10,000 utility customers while continually upgrading infrastructure, and
WHEREAS, by making public safety a high priority, Mr. Harriss has lead (sic) the fire and police departments to create a safe community for the City’s 14,000 residents and millions of annual visitors.
NOW, THEREFORE, it is with great pride (sic) that the St. Augustine City Commission recognizes the outstanding contributions made by William B. “Bill” Harriss to the people of St. Augustine, commends him for his professional commitment, and expresses its full confidence in his management of the City.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have hereunto set our signatures and caused the Seal of the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE to be affixed this 27th day of March in the year of our Lord two thousand six and the four hundred fortieth year of the founding of St. Augustine, the Nation’s Oldest City.
George Gardner, Mayor, Susan Burk, Vice Mayor, Joseph Boles, Commissioner,
Donald Crichlow, Commissioner, Errol Jones, Commissioner
March 28, 2006
In a consent to search form, JOHN REGAN, P.E., Assistant City Manager, admitted that the location in question is the "OLD CITY RESERVOIR," after City officials quibbled about the name (and anonymous postings on St. Augustine Record's "Talk of the Town" website denied it was the OLD CITY RESERVOIR. (PX-13).
Early April 2006
Illegal dumping first publicly reported in two small newspapers -- the Collective Press (St. Augustine monthly) and Out in the City (Jacksonville monthly).
April 10, 2006
Commissioners announce, without voting, their “understanding” that public comments by one individual can be either at the beginning or at the end of Commission meetings, but not both. This violates the Commission’s longstanding practice of allowing Ed Slavin, et al. to speak at both the beginning and at the end of Commission meetings.
April 13, 2006
Front page St. Augustine Record article by prize-winning reporter Kati Bexley reports illegal dumping (8th anniversary of HARRISS’ hiring without national search or Sunshine notice).
April 14, 2006
Dr. Dwight Hines, Ph.D. files lawsuit against City for Open Records violations involving his requests for records on city trucks, including those haulting contaminants from Riberia Street to Holmes Blvd.
April 24, 2006
City Commissioner JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, JR., Esquire states that the City needs to seek attorney fees and monetary sanctions against Dr. Hines to make him “pay the piper,” threatening him and anyone else who files an Open Record lawsuit with a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP suit), possibly violating Florida law against government SLAPP suits.. Commissioner and Vice Mayor SUSAN BURK, Esquire amended her motion to hire Upchurch, Bailey and Upchurch to seek attorney fees for supposedly frivolous litigation. City Clerk Martha V. (Nell) Porter later confirms to Dr. Hines and Ed Slavin that Commissioners did not have a copy of Hines’ Open Record lawsuit when they termed it frivolous and voted to seek attorney fees to make him “pay the piper.”
May 23, 2006
CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE Chief Administrative Officer TIMOTHY BURCHFIELD signs affidavit claiming records sought by Dr. Hines do not exist. In January 2007, CITY provides 45 pounds of records claimed not to exist, later providing computer disk that could not be read (claimed to contain.
August 8, 2006
At initial court hearing in Dr. Hines’ Open Records case where monetary sanctions were threatened, CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE outside counsel Sidney Ansbacher provides Dr. Hines with 45 pounds of documents City previously claimed did not exist on truck use, including hauling of contaminants.
August 22, 2006
CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE CITY MANAGER WILLIAM B. HARRISS writes a “Dear Chief” letter to FDEP Chief of Law Enforcement, GREA BEAVIS, asserting reasons for not prosecuting the CITY, including Messrs. JOHN REGAN, P.E. and WILLIAM LEETCH, P.E., attending “the Florida Chamber of Commerce Environmental Permitting Summer School and short course held at Marco Island this past July.” (PX-10).
August 25, 2006
■ Refusing to bring any criminal charges against the Respondent CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE, GREA BEAVIS, Chief of Investigations, FDEP Division of Law Enforcement, sent a letter to CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE CITY MANAGER WILLIAM B. HARRISS (PX-9), stating he relied upon representations in HARRISS’ August 22, 2006 letter (stamped as being received by FDEP August 24, 2006). No copy of the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s course material or proof of attendance or grades was ever provided to BEAVIS or FDEP. A full-color brochure on the Florida Chamber of Commerce Environmental Permitting Summer School shows that it is lacking in balance, dominated by corporate law firms and consultants. http://www.floridaenet.com/pdfs/2006summerschool.pdf
■ Nothing in FDEP’s undated, unsigned, “CASE CRITERIA” (CX-11) suggests that municipal engineers attending a Chamber of Commerce course is good cause for declining to prosecute the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE for dumping “solid waste” in a “lake.”
■ No meeting minutes or notes of the meetings between HARRISS and FDEP have yet been provided by FDEP.
■ No report of interview form (or Offense/Incident Report/Narrative form) of any meeting between HARRISS and FDEP has yet been provided by FDEP.
■ FDEP criminal investigators’ records reflect no investigation of perjury, obstruction of justice or any past dumping prior to December 2006
■ In closing a criminal case involving contamination of the Old City Reservoir with arsenic and other toxicants, FDEP’s Bureau of Environmental Investigations (BEI) "investigation" concluded, "No (sic) economic or specific motive for permit violations could be identified."
October 12, 2006
City Attorney JAMES PATRICK WILSON resigns, effective January 31, 2007.
October 13, 2006:
■ Vice Mayor and Commissioner BURK moves to accept WILSON’s resignation immediately, paying him without requiring attendance at work through January 31, 2007.
■ Vice Mayor and Commissioner BURK moves to hire RONALD BROWN and DOBSON & BROWN, P.A. as the City’s temporary attorneys.
■ Neither action was preceded by proper Sunshine notice on the City’s website. No press or public attend the illegal “Special Meeting,” which was not asserted to be an “emergency.” State’s Attorney later refuses to take Sunshine violations to Grand Jury.
November 1, 2006
St. Augustine Chronicle runs cover story by reporter Frank Matzke on illegal dumping, the first publication to publish FDEP staffer Brian Durden’s March 1, 2006 photographs of illegal dumping continuing two (2) days after the criminal investigators arrived.
November 7, 2006
Ed Slavin requests HARRISS to preserve all documents and disable shredders. No response.
November 13, 2006
Mayor GEORGE GARDNER denounces Ed Slavin at last Commission meeting as Mayor, saying he asked too many questions, earning standing ovation by Commissioners, et al.
November 19, 2006
St. Augustine Record editorial (entitled “Always Stick to Your Guns”) denounces GARDNER for his attack on Slavin, chilling free speech rights, supports Slavin’s effort to inform the people.
November 22, 2006
St. Augustine Record reports FDEP’s proposed fine of the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE of more than $46,000, with FDEP’s calculations stating the amount of the fine was based on City’s lack of good faith. FDEP, waited until after the election.
December 16, 2006
Ed Slavin forgives ex-Mayor GARDNER, et al. in Christmas column in St. Augustine Record.
December 22, 2006
Commissioner BURK moves to hire RONALD BROWN as permanent City Attorney without Sunshine notice of this item (agenda advertised only to discuss tax exemptions for low-income elderly residents).
January 17, 2007
“Basic outline of the City’s settlement proposal” states city will not agree to put solid waste in Class I landfill without a “binding final court order,” stating: “Under no circumstances, except for a final non-appealable court order, will the City agree to remove the fill (sic) material to a Class 1 landfill.” This position never discussed at City Commission meeting first.
March 12, 2007
ST. AUGUSTINE CITY ATTORNEY RONALD BROWN claims the mediation with Dr. Hines was a victory for CITY. No reference is made to “pay the piper” remark, now apparently inoperative.
January to November 2007
FDEP and CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE continue secret negotiations -- attendees include managers, lawyers, engineers and public relations spokerspersons.
June 13, 2007
Without public hearing, City Commissioners vote unanimously to redefine City boundary line to exclude Ed Slavin’s residence from City of St. Augustine, where he has voted since 2000.
June 18, 2007
FDEP District Director STRONG spoke at an EPA Community Involvement Training Conference seminar in Jacksonville, Florida. (PX-8B). Agenda focused on environmental justice issues (PX-8B) and included optional field trip to St. Augustine’s coal-to-gas plan. (PX-8B).
September 2007
City Commissioners and staff refuse to answer questions on City budget at two (2) public hearings and a workshop, including questions on budgeting for environmental cleanup of Old City Reservoir.
September 18, 2007
City’s AKERMAN SENTE$FITT lawyers file with FDEP "Report of Results of SPLP Sampling of Fill Material from the Holmes Boulevard Borrow Pit."
October 2, 2007
City’s lawyers file with FDEP – without notifying the public – their "Fill Removal and Relocation Plan for Holmes Boulevard Borrow Pit and Riberia Street Waste Disposal Area, Revision 3", October 2, 2007 ("R&R Plan"), which describes the methods and means proposed to remove “solid waste” from Holmes Site to Riberia Street dump.
November 1, 2007
St. Augustine Record editorial (entitled “Let the public speak early”) calls for restoring public comment to start of City Commission meetings. Commissioners had referenced three speakers (B.J. Kalaidi, David Thundershield Queen and Ed Slavin in violating public’s First Amendment rights).
November 6, 2007
Assistant City Manager JOHN REGAN writes City Manager HARRIS, requesting City Commission consideration of proposed Consent Order.
November 9, 2007
At approximately 2:38 PM EST, CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE gives E-mail notice Consent Order will be on agenda for November 13, 2007 City Commission meeting.
November 11, 2007
St. Augustine Record editorial gives public notice of right of public to speak on bringing waste back to Lincolnville at 8 AM meeting on November 13, 2007.
November 13, 2007
■ Consent Order only briefly discussed at meeting that commenced at 8 A.M., the day after Veteran’s Day holiday, outside the ordinary course of business, with minimal notice the preceding Friday (November 9, 2007)
■ Commissioner and ex-Mayor GEORGE GARDNER and Commissioner and ex-Vice Mayor SUSAN BURK left the meeting before dumping is discussed.
■ Commissioners ask no tough questions and learn no new information..
■ Effects upon Lincolnville residents are not discussed.
■ St. Augustine City Commissioner ERROL JONES makes the motion, seconded by City Commissioner DONALD CRICHLOW, to approve the Consent Order sending solid waste back to Lincolnville, giving City 475 days to remove contaminants from Old City Reservoir. Vote is 3-0.
■ Mayor JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, JR. denies the public the right to speak on Consent Order, supported by City Attorney RONALD BROWN, who claims that there was no “advertisement” of a “public hearing.” BOLES threatens arrests, motions to police officers.
■ HARRISS refuses calls to resign, saying “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
■ Later that afternoon, JOHN REGAN tells Messrs. Slavin and Seraphin, et al that it would have taken fifteen (15) minutes or less for AKERMAN SENTERFITT environmental lawyer WILLIAM PENCE to have told Respondent COSA not to dump, if only CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE officials had asked or requested him to do so.
■ REGAN tells Messrs. Slavin and Seraphin, et al. that it would have cost seventy-five dollars ($75) for WILLIAM PENCE to have told Respondent COSA not to dump, if only CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE officials had asked PENCE about the dumping before commencing it.
December 8, 2007
■ Consent Order advertised in St. Augustine Record, giving persons twenty-one (21) days within which to petition for review and request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.
December 12, 2007
■ It's cheaper" was the main reason offered by City in defending the proposed Consent Order sending contaminated materials back into the Lincolnville community. December 12, 2007, St. Augustine Record @1, quoting Mr. JOHN REGAN.
December 13, 2007
■ Florida Times-Union reporter Deirdre Conner reports dumping controversy.
■ City Commissioners JONES and GARDNER attend meeting of “Stop the Dump,” with some 80 people in attendance.
■ FDEP District Director STRONG tells Ed Slavin in telephone conversation that what happened in St. Augustine in 1964 was “irrelevant” to St. Augustine’s illegal dumping and institutional racism today.
■ REGAN repeated that statement about it being “cheaper.”.
■ REGAN inaccurately called the illegal dumping a “giant, giant technical (sic) mistake.”
■ REGAN correctly called the coquina pit a “lake.”
■ REGAN apologized for the illegal dumping in the Old City Reservoir.
■ REGAN said the City’s notion of sending the solid waste back to Lincolnville is “counterintutive” and “a little bizarre.”
■ REGAN said there had been dumps for decades on City-owned property from the current location of the Willie Gallimore Center southward.
■ REGAN, said that there were “many, many dumps” in St. Augustine, Florida.
■ REGAN says City performed “root cause analysis” and had “reorganized” as a result of the illegal dumping – on January 9, 2008, REGAN admitted there was nothing in writing.
■ FDEP District Director STRONG and other FDEP staff attended the community meeting but did not speak or answer questions or identify themselves.
■ FDEP claims it needs seven (7) days advance notice to meet with a citizens group, citing Sunshine law for this dubious proposition.
December 18, 2007
■ Folio Weekly Editor Anne Schindler exposes the City’s lawbreaking in her editor’s column, (entitled “Dirty Deeds”) calling for criminal prosecution of City officials responsible for dumping, comparing situation to Clay County’s illegal dumping.
December 27, 2007
■ Seven citizens petition FDEP to review the Consent Order, detailing allegations of environmental racism and denial of public’s right to speak in a 20 page filing.
December 31, 2007
■ Seven citizens ask FDEP to hold City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS, Mayor and Commissioner JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, JR. Vice Mayor CRICHLOW, ex-Vice Mayor SUSAN BURK, Commissioner and ex-Mayor GEORGE GARDNER, and Commissioner ERROL JONES as individual respondents subject to potential personal liability for the illegal dumping, also asking for a March 10, 2008 trial date and seeking discovery of documents from CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE, FDEP, Akerman Senterfitt and Geosyntec Consultants.
January 7, 2008
■ CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE asserts in the St. Augustine Record that it is concerned citizens who have “stymied” cleanup by requesting a hearing on taking waste back to Lincolnville, saying the cleanup will be delayed 150 days.
■ REGAN quoted in St. Augustine record as saying “Outside from a few individuals, we’re not hearing from the public on this, and we really want to make sure the public understands this project.”
January 9, 2008
■ Assistant City Manager JOHN REGAN admits “root cause analysis” of reasons for illegal dumping, which he reported at the December 13, 2007 meeting, was unwritten (inconsistent with engineering standards for such analysis)..
■ CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE, FDEP, AKERMAN SENTERFITT and GEOSYNTEC fail to provide copies of speakers’ curriculum vitae or complete Powerpoin® t presentations for the January 10, 2007 meeting.
CONCLUSIONS
1. The CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE has violated environmental laws, committed environmental crimes and avoided meaningful law enforcement for two (2) years.
2. The CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE was not candid with federal and state investigators or with citizens and journalists.
3. The CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE has delayed the cleanup of the Old City Reservoir for two (2) years, without justification or excuse, risking contamination.
4. The CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE, its law firm (AKERMAN SENTERFITT) and the law firm’s engineering firm (GEOSYNTEC) all worked in secret with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), devised the supposed “remedy” or returning contaminants to Lincolnville, without a public hearing or consulting anyone, denying the public the right to speak at the November 13, 2007 meeting and repeatedly discouraging and limiting public comment since February 2006 report to National Response Center.
5. The CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE lacks respect for human rights and our environment.
6. The Consent Decree between FDEP and the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE is a stench in the nostrils of the Nation and must be rejected.
7. The Holmes Blvd. and Riberia Street sites both must be cleaned up, along with our City government. We need an Inspector General, Ombuds and transparency.
8. Officials responsible for illegal dumping and coverups must be investigated by a Grand Jury, just like those in Clay County, Florida..
9. The CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE needs a whistleblower protection ordinance to assure that employees can report problems to Commissioners, law enforcement and journalists..
10. The CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE urgently needs an Environmental Justice ordinance and a City Commissioner, Manager and staff pledged to respect our environment and civil rights.. As Al Gore, Jr. wrote in Earth in the Balance (1992), environmental problems are often associated with corruption.
In secret, behind locked gates, the managers of the Nation's oldest (European-founded) City illegally dumped 40,000 cubic yards of contaminants in the Old City Reservoir, where people fished and swam for generations.
Now our City and State want to bring the contaminants back to Lincolnville, negotiating in secret, without ever informing the two (2) affected Environmental Justice communities of Lincolnville and West Augustine.
Three City Commissioners (MAYOR JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, JR., VICE MAYOR DONALD CRICHLOW and Commissioner ERROL JONES) rubberrstamped a Consent Order without allowing promised public comment. Two other City Commissioners (GEORGE GARDNER and SUSAN BURK) left the meeting without either discussing or voting on the issue. This required citizens to act to commence an Administrative Law Judge hearing to obtain sworn candid answers and a full remedy.
St. Augustine's pollution symbolizes our City's putative leaders' lack of trust in the public's right to know. This is advanced citizenship. Please share your questions and whistleblower disclosures about City government, today and every day. Then let's demand answers. Expect democracy. “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32
For more information, please see www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com or contact Judith
Seraphin of the Lincolnville Neighborhood Association at 829-0808.
-30-
Note: PX references are to Petitioners’ Exhibits filed with FDEP in State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection v. City of St. Augustine. Attached is PX-3, Anne Schindler’s column from December 18, 2007 Folio Weekly.
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.”
— the late U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.)
"Justice delayed is justice denied." – Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
Starting circa 1905
■ Dumping of household trash, sewage sludge and industrial trash in the historic Lincolnville community, from the present location of the Willie Gallimore Center south. This and other dumps in St. Augustine and St. Johns County are never remediated.
■ Location of City’s sewage treatment plant in Lincolnville at south end of Riberia Street.
■ Location of Atlanta Gas Light coal-to-gas plant in Lincolnville at north end of Riberia Street.
■ Location of polluting boatyards in Lincolnville.
■ Location of City’s garage and water treatment plant in West Augustine
June 12, 1964
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. writes letter from jail to clergy, calls CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE “most lawless” city in America. President Johnson signs 1964 Civil Rights Act in July 1964.
1970
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established after first Earth Day.
1988
CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE ceases using Old City Reservoir, still backup water supply.
1991
■ Environmental Justice (EJ) movement begun to remedy low-income and minority communities bearing disproportionate share of dumping and pollution.
■ No evident effort by CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE to examine the legacy of decades of dumping decisions affecting low-income and minority communities of Lincolnville and West Augustine.
1995
Then-City Manager WILLIAM POMAR writes and promises Army Corps of Engineers to dispose of all refuse properly in the creation of an artificial wetland at the south end of Riberia Street.
2000-2005
■ EPA holds public hearings in St. Augustine before approving cleanup of old coal-to-gas plant at location planned for Sebastian Inner Harbor.
■ AKERMAN SENTERFITT lawyer WILLIAM L. PENCE represents the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE as its environmental counsel and is at all times since available to answer questions by City officials on environmental issues..
■ PENCE, asserts that the cleanup of the Sebastian Inner Harbor Project was “successful.”
http://proceedings.swix.ws/2005_10_09_Brownfields/content/pdf/Pence.pdf
September 27, 2005
City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS, signed $200,000 contract for hauling for Riberia Street site, without any City Commission approval sought or required.
December 1, 2005
GREGORY J. STRONG, a marketing executive for a petroleum industry supplier and past environmental regulatory manager for polluters fined hundreds of thousands of dollars by EPA, becomes Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Northeast Florida District Director.
December 9, 2005
St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) biologist, at the Old City Reservoir site, tells CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE officials not to dump without permit. City starts illegal dumping the next day, without ever calling lawyer PENCE at AKERMAN SENTERFITT..
December 10, 2005
Illegal dumping of some 60,000,000 pounds of contaminants – including arsenic, thallium and vinyl chloride – begins in the Old City Reservoir, in secrecy, without public notice.
December 12, 2005
St. Augustine City Commission agrees, without voting, to allow Civil Rights Foot Soldiers Monument in the Slave Market Square (Plaza de la Constitución), rejecting City Manager HARRISS’ claim that only “colonial” history was suitable, while agreeing with HARRISS’ demand that the victims of the City’s discrimination had to raise funds for the monument.
January 9, 2006
■ Certified letter from FDEP responds to permit application, tells St. Augustine not to dump without a permit.
■ Illegal dumping continues in Old City Reservoir.
February 17, 2006
■ Illegal dumping reported to National Response Center in Washington, D.C.. (Report 788280)
■ Illegal dumping continues in Old City Reservoir.
February 24, 2006
■ Mayor GEORGE GARDNER defends illegal dumping, says it’s only “clean fill.”
■ “There are no bedsprings in clean fill” as EPA expert John Marler explains.
■ Former EPA Region 4 Regional Administrator John Henry Hankinson states that the coquina pit lake where the illegal dumping took place is an “open sore going straight down to the aquifer and the groundwater.”
■ City Public Affairs Director Paul Williamson claims that the City’s $30,000 document camera/podium will be unavailable to members of the public February 27 to show any documents or videos.
■ City Manager HARRISS, when asked about whether he had permit, responds: “I’ll get one.“ He never does. Illegal dumping continues in Old City Reservoir.
February 27, 2006
■ Assistant City Manager JOHN REGAN, P.E. tells Ed Slavin that “because of what you [Slavin] have done, it will be a long process.” Ed Slavin tells REGAN that it is the City, not him that did the polluting.
■ REGAN twice asks Ed Slavin for copy of DVD provided to Federal and State environmental crimes investigators.
■ Ed Slavin declines to provide DVD to REGAN, based upon request from Federal and State criminal investigators.
■ REGAN asserts to Ed Slavin that the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE was “in a hurry” to finish wetland remediation in order to begin the Sebastian Inner Harbor Project.
■ REGAN sends E-mail to CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE PUBLIC AFFAIRS MANAGER PAUL WILLIAMSON, inter alia using pejoratives about questions being asked on Respondent COSA’s illegal dumping in 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
■ Mayor GEORGE GARDENER publicly promises “answers” to Ed Slavin’s questions. None provided yet.
■ Illegal dumping continues in Old City Reservoir..
March 1, 2006
■ Illegal dumping continues in Old City Reservoir two (2) days later – FDEP’s Brian Durden photographs illegal dumping after criminal investigators arrive.
■ In the presence of AKERMAN SENTERFITT partner WILLIAM PENCE, Esquire, then-CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE Public Works Director WILLIAM LEETCH and other CITY employees told EPA and FDEP criminal investigators that mainly clean materials were dumped at the Old City Reservoir and only 80 cubic yards of “unsuitable” material were dumped. (PX-12). This information was not accurate.
March 13, 2006
■ Then-Commissioner (now Mayor) JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, JR. says he is “tired” of people “trashing” City Manager HARRISS, which Vice Mayor and Commissioner SUSAN BURK says is only by “one (sic) disgruntled (sic) citizen” raising concerns about illegal dumping.
■ All five City Commissioners vote unanimously to give HARRISS an honor (a plaque) and vote to express their “confidence” in HARRISS.
March 15, 2006
■ FDEP orders the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE to remove the solid waste from the Old City Reservoir lake and put it in a Class I landfill no later than April 17, 2006.
■ Twenty months later, the cleanup has not been done.
■ CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE, AKERMAN SENTERFITT and GEOSYNTEC start spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, delaying Old City Reservoir cleanup by 2-3 years.
March 23, 2006
Clay County Grand Jury indicts three county officials for illegal dumping in widely reported $9,000,000 dumping scandal, which began in 2004.
March 27, 2006
Taxpayer-purchased plaque publicly presented to HARRISS by all five City Commissioners, lavishing praise. Mayor GARDNER, Vice Mayor BURK and Commissioners CRICHLOW, JONES and BOLES are photographed with HARRISS, expressing confidence in him, discouraging cooperation with ongoing criminal investigation and may constitute obstruction of justice. The proclamation stated: P R O C L A M A T I O N
WHEREAS, the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE is extraordinary among places in the world and is fortunate to have William B. “Bill” Harriss as its City Manager, a person whose passion for the City and professional commitment to the City is unmatched; and
WHEREAS, in his more than two decades of service to the people of St. Augustine as Chief Financial Officer, General Services Director, Assistant City Manager and now as City Manager, Mr. Harriss’ philosophy (sic) of administration through strong team-building consistently inspires the City’s more than 350 employees to aspire to do their best, and
WHEREAS, through responsible fiscal planning, Mr. Harriss has ensured the City’s solid financial standing and earned its sound management the highest respect; and
WHEREAS, with honest enthusiasm for the highest level of proficiency in every aspect of his work, Mr. Harriss’ prudent (sic) management has resulted in improved reliability of service for the City’s 10,000 utility customers while continually upgrading infrastructure, and
WHEREAS, by making public safety a high priority, Mr. Harriss has lead (sic) the fire and police departments to create a safe community for the City’s 14,000 residents and millions of annual visitors.
NOW, THEREFORE, it is with great pride (sic) that the St. Augustine City Commission recognizes the outstanding contributions made by William B. “Bill” Harriss to the people of St. Augustine, commends him for his professional commitment, and expresses its full confidence in his management of the City.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have hereunto set our signatures and caused the Seal of the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE to be affixed this 27th day of March in the year of our Lord two thousand six and the four hundred fortieth year of the founding of St. Augustine, the Nation’s Oldest City.
George Gardner, Mayor, Susan Burk, Vice Mayor, Joseph Boles, Commissioner,
Donald Crichlow, Commissioner, Errol Jones, Commissioner
March 28, 2006
In a consent to search form, JOHN REGAN, P.E., Assistant City Manager, admitted that the location in question is the "OLD CITY RESERVOIR," after City officials quibbled about the name (and anonymous postings on St. Augustine Record's "Talk of the Town" website denied it was the OLD CITY RESERVOIR. (PX-13).
Early April 2006
Illegal dumping first publicly reported in two small newspapers -- the Collective Press (St. Augustine monthly) and Out in the City (Jacksonville monthly).
April 10, 2006
Commissioners announce, without voting, their “understanding” that public comments by one individual can be either at the beginning or at the end of Commission meetings, but not both. This violates the Commission’s longstanding practice of allowing Ed Slavin, et al. to speak at both the beginning and at the end of Commission meetings.
April 13, 2006
Front page St. Augustine Record article by prize-winning reporter Kati Bexley reports illegal dumping (8th anniversary of HARRISS’ hiring without national search or Sunshine notice).
April 14, 2006
Dr. Dwight Hines, Ph.D. files lawsuit against City for Open Records violations involving his requests for records on city trucks, including those haulting contaminants from Riberia Street to Holmes Blvd.
April 24, 2006
City Commissioner JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, JR., Esquire states that the City needs to seek attorney fees and monetary sanctions against Dr. Hines to make him “pay the piper,” threatening him and anyone else who files an Open Record lawsuit with a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP suit), possibly violating Florida law against government SLAPP suits.. Commissioner and Vice Mayor SUSAN BURK, Esquire amended her motion to hire Upchurch, Bailey and Upchurch to seek attorney fees for supposedly frivolous litigation. City Clerk Martha V. (Nell) Porter later confirms to Dr. Hines and Ed Slavin that Commissioners did not have a copy of Hines’ Open Record lawsuit when they termed it frivolous and voted to seek attorney fees to make him “pay the piper.”
May 23, 2006
CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE Chief Administrative Officer TIMOTHY BURCHFIELD signs affidavit claiming records sought by Dr. Hines do not exist. In January 2007, CITY provides 45 pounds of records claimed not to exist, later providing computer disk that could not be read (claimed to contain.
August 8, 2006
At initial court hearing in Dr. Hines’ Open Records case where monetary sanctions were threatened, CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE outside counsel Sidney Ansbacher provides Dr. Hines with 45 pounds of documents City previously claimed did not exist on truck use, including hauling of contaminants.
August 22, 2006
CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE CITY MANAGER WILLIAM B. HARRISS writes a “Dear Chief” letter to FDEP Chief of Law Enforcement, GREA BEAVIS, asserting reasons for not prosecuting the CITY, including Messrs. JOHN REGAN, P.E. and WILLIAM LEETCH, P.E., attending “the Florida Chamber of Commerce Environmental Permitting Summer School and short course held at Marco Island this past July.” (PX-10).
August 25, 2006
■ Refusing to bring any criminal charges against the Respondent CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE, GREA BEAVIS, Chief of Investigations, FDEP Division of Law Enforcement, sent a letter to CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE CITY MANAGER WILLIAM B. HARRISS (PX-9), stating he relied upon representations in HARRISS’ August 22, 2006 letter (stamped as being received by FDEP August 24, 2006). No copy of the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s course material or proof of attendance or grades was ever provided to BEAVIS or FDEP. A full-color brochure on the Florida Chamber of Commerce Environmental Permitting Summer School shows that it is lacking in balance, dominated by corporate law firms and consultants. http://www.floridaenet.com/pdfs/2006summerschool.pdf
■ Nothing in FDEP’s undated, unsigned, “CASE CRITERIA” (CX-11) suggests that municipal engineers attending a Chamber of Commerce course is good cause for declining to prosecute the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE for dumping “solid waste” in a “lake.”
■ No meeting minutes or notes of the meetings between HARRISS and FDEP have yet been provided by FDEP.
■ No report of interview form (or Offense/Incident Report/Narrative form) of any meeting between HARRISS and FDEP has yet been provided by FDEP.
■ FDEP criminal investigators’ records reflect no investigation of perjury, obstruction of justice or any past dumping prior to December 2006
■ In closing a criminal case involving contamination of the Old City Reservoir with arsenic and other toxicants, FDEP’s Bureau of Environmental Investigations (BEI) "investigation" concluded, "No (sic) economic or specific motive for permit violations could be identified."
October 12, 2006
City Attorney JAMES PATRICK WILSON resigns, effective January 31, 2007.
October 13, 2006:
■ Vice Mayor and Commissioner BURK moves to accept WILSON’s resignation immediately, paying him without requiring attendance at work through January 31, 2007.
■ Vice Mayor and Commissioner BURK moves to hire RONALD BROWN and DOBSON & BROWN, P.A. as the City’s temporary attorneys.
■ Neither action was preceded by proper Sunshine notice on the City’s website. No press or public attend the illegal “Special Meeting,” which was not asserted to be an “emergency.” State’s Attorney later refuses to take Sunshine violations to Grand Jury.
November 1, 2006
St. Augustine Chronicle runs cover story by reporter Frank Matzke on illegal dumping, the first publication to publish FDEP staffer Brian Durden’s March 1, 2006 photographs of illegal dumping continuing two (2) days after the criminal investigators arrived.
November 7, 2006
Ed Slavin requests HARRISS to preserve all documents and disable shredders. No response.
November 13, 2006
Mayor GEORGE GARDNER denounces Ed Slavin at last Commission meeting as Mayor, saying he asked too many questions, earning standing ovation by Commissioners, et al.
November 19, 2006
St. Augustine Record editorial (entitled “Always Stick to Your Guns”) denounces GARDNER for his attack on Slavin, chilling free speech rights, supports Slavin’s effort to inform the people.
November 22, 2006
St. Augustine Record reports FDEP’s proposed fine of the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE of more than $46,000, with FDEP’s calculations stating the amount of the fine was based on City’s lack of good faith. FDEP, waited until after the election.
December 16, 2006
Ed Slavin forgives ex-Mayor GARDNER, et al. in Christmas column in St. Augustine Record.
December 22, 2006
Commissioner BURK moves to hire RONALD BROWN as permanent City Attorney without Sunshine notice of this item (agenda advertised only to discuss tax exemptions for low-income elderly residents).
January 17, 2007
“Basic outline of the City’s settlement proposal” states city will not agree to put solid waste in Class I landfill without a “binding final court order,” stating: “Under no circumstances, except for a final non-appealable court order, will the City agree to remove the fill (sic) material to a Class 1 landfill.” This position never discussed at City Commission meeting first.
March 12, 2007
ST. AUGUSTINE CITY ATTORNEY RONALD BROWN claims the mediation with Dr. Hines was a victory for CITY. No reference is made to “pay the piper” remark, now apparently inoperative.
January to November 2007
FDEP and CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE continue secret negotiations -- attendees include managers, lawyers, engineers and public relations spokerspersons.
June 13, 2007
Without public hearing, City Commissioners vote unanimously to redefine City boundary line to exclude Ed Slavin’s residence from City of St. Augustine, where he has voted since 2000.
June 18, 2007
FDEP District Director STRONG spoke at an EPA Community Involvement Training Conference seminar in Jacksonville, Florida. (PX-8B). Agenda focused on environmental justice issues (PX-8B) and included optional field trip to St. Augustine’s coal-to-gas plan. (PX-8B).
September 2007
City Commissioners and staff refuse to answer questions on City budget at two (2) public hearings and a workshop, including questions on budgeting for environmental cleanup of Old City Reservoir.
September 18, 2007
City’s AKERMAN SENTE$FITT lawyers file with FDEP "Report of Results of SPLP Sampling of Fill Material from the Holmes Boulevard Borrow Pit."
October 2, 2007
City’s lawyers file with FDEP – without notifying the public – their "Fill Removal and Relocation Plan for Holmes Boulevard Borrow Pit and Riberia Street Waste Disposal Area, Revision 3", October 2, 2007 ("R&R Plan"), which describes the methods and means proposed to remove “solid waste” from Holmes Site to Riberia Street dump.
November 1, 2007
St. Augustine Record editorial (entitled “Let the public speak early”) calls for restoring public comment to start of City Commission meetings. Commissioners had referenced three speakers (B.J. Kalaidi, David Thundershield Queen and Ed Slavin in violating public’s First Amendment rights).
November 6, 2007
Assistant City Manager JOHN REGAN writes City Manager HARRIS, requesting City Commission consideration of proposed Consent Order.
November 9, 2007
At approximately 2:38 PM EST, CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE gives E-mail notice Consent Order will be on agenda for November 13, 2007 City Commission meeting.
November 11, 2007
St. Augustine Record editorial gives public notice of right of public to speak on bringing waste back to Lincolnville at 8 AM meeting on November 13, 2007.
November 13, 2007
■ Consent Order only briefly discussed at meeting that commenced at 8 A.M., the day after Veteran’s Day holiday, outside the ordinary course of business, with minimal notice the preceding Friday (November 9, 2007)
■ Commissioner and ex-Mayor GEORGE GARDNER and Commissioner and ex-Vice Mayor SUSAN BURK left the meeting before dumping is discussed.
■ Commissioners ask no tough questions and learn no new information..
■ Effects upon Lincolnville residents are not discussed.
■ St. Augustine City Commissioner ERROL JONES makes the motion, seconded by City Commissioner DONALD CRICHLOW, to approve the Consent Order sending solid waste back to Lincolnville, giving City 475 days to remove contaminants from Old City Reservoir. Vote is 3-0.
■ Mayor JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, JR. denies the public the right to speak on Consent Order, supported by City Attorney RONALD BROWN, who claims that there was no “advertisement” of a “public hearing.” BOLES threatens arrests, motions to police officers.
■ HARRISS refuses calls to resign, saying “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
■ Later that afternoon, JOHN REGAN tells Messrs. Slavin and Seraphin, et al that it would have taken fifteen (15) minutes or less for AKERMAN SENTERFITT environmental lawyer WILLIAM PENCE to have told Respondent COSA not to dump, if only CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE officials had asked or requested him to do so.
■ REGAN tells Messrs. Slavin and Seraphin, et al. that it would have cost seventy-five dollars ($75) for WILLIAM PENCE to have told Respondent COSA not to dump, if only CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE officials had asked PENCE about the dumping before commencing it.
December 8, 2007
■ Consent Order advertised in St. Augustine Record, giving persons twenty-one (21) days within which to petition for review and request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.
December 12, 2007
■ It's cheaper" was the main reason offered by City in defending the proposed Consent Order sending contaminated materials back into the Lincolnville community. December 12, 2007, St. Augustine Record @1, quoting Mr. JOHN REGAN.
December 13, 2007
■ Florida Times-Union reporter Deirdre Conner reports dumping controversy.
■ City Commissioners JONES and GARDNER attend meeting of “Stop the Dump,” with some 80 people in attendance.
■ FDEP District Director STRONG tells Ed Slavin in telephone conversation that what happened in St. Augustine in 1964 was “irrelevant” to St. Augustine’s illegal dumping and institutional racism today.
■ REGAN repeated that statement about it being “cheaper.”.
■ REGAN inaccurately called the illegal dumping a “giant, giant technical (sic) mistake.”
■ REGAN correctly called the coquina pit a “lake.”
■ REGAN apologized for the illegal dumping in the Old City Reservoir.
■ REGAN said the City’s notion of sending the solid waste back to Lincolnville is “counterintutive” and “a little bizarre.”
■ REGAN said there had been dumps for decades on City-owned property from the current location of the Willie Gallimore Center southward.
■ REGAN, said that there were “many, many dumps” in St. Augustine, Florida.
■ REGAN says City performed “root cause analysis” and had “reorganized” as a result of the illegal dumping – on January 9, 2008, REGAN admitted there was nothing in writing.
■ FDEP District Director STRONG and other FDEP staff attended the community meeting but did not speak or answer questions or identify themselves.
■ FDEP claims it needs seven (7) days advance notice to meet with a citizens group, citing Sunshine law for this dubious proposition.
December 18, 2007
■ Folio Weekly Editor Anne Schindler exposes the City’s lawbreaking in her editor’s column, (entitled “Dirty Deeds”) calling for criminal prosecution of City officials responsible for dumping, comparing situation to Clay County’s illegal dumping.
December 27, 2007
■ Seven citizens petition FDEP to review the Consent Order, detailing allegations of environmental racism and denial of public’s right to speak in a 20 page filing.
December 31, 2007
■ Seven citizens ask FDEP to hold City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS, Mayor and Commissioner JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, JR. Vice Mayor CRICHLOW, ex-Vice Mayor SUSAN BURK, Commissioner and ex-Mayor GEORGE GARDNER, and Commissioner ERROL JONES as individual respondents subject to potential personal liability for the illegal dumping, also asking for a March 10, 2008 trial date and seeking discovery of documents from CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE, FDEP, Akerman Senterfitt and Geosyntec Consultants.
January 7, 2008
■ CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE asserts in the St. Augustine Record that it is concerned citizens who have “stymied” cleanup by requesting a hearing on taking waste back to Lincolnville, saying the cleanup will be delayed 150 days.
■ REGAN quoted in St. Augustine record as saying “Outside from a few individuals, we’re not hearing from the public on this, and we really want to make sure the public understands this project.”
January 9, 2008
■ Assistant City Manager JOHN REGAN admits “root cause analysis” of reasons for illegal dumping, which he reported at the December 13, 2007 meeting, was unwritten (inconsistent with engineering standards for such analysis)..
■ CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE, FDEP, AKERMAN SENTERFITT and GEOSYNTEC fail to provide copies of speakers’ curriculum vitae or complete Powerpoin® t presentations for the January 10, 2007 meeting.
CONCLUSIONS
1. The CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE has violated environmental laws, committed environmental crimes and avoided meaningful law enforcement for two (2) years.
2. The CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE was not candid with federal and state investigators or with citizens and journalists.
3. The CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE has delayed the cleanup of the Old City Reservoir for two (2) years, without justification or excuse, risking contamination.
4. The CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE, its law firm (AKERMAN SENTERFITT) and the law firm’s engineering firm (GEOSYNTEC) all worked in secret with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), devised the supposed “remedy” or returning contaminants to Lincolnville, without a public hearing or consulting anyone, denying the public the right to speak at the November 13, 2007 meeting and repeatedly discouraging and limiting public comment since February 2006 report to National Response Center.
5. The CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE lacks respect for human rights and our environment.
6. The Consent Decree between FDEP and the CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE is a stench in the nostrils of the Nation and must be rejected.
7. The Holmes Blvd. and Riberia Street sites both must be cleaned up, along with our City government. We need an Inspector General, Ombuds and transparency.
8. Officials responsible for illegal dumping and coverups must be investigated by a Grand Jury, just like those in Clay County, Florida..
9. The CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE needs a whistleblower protection ordinance to assure that employees can report problems to Commissioners, law enforcement and journalists..
10. The CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE urgently needs an Environmental Justice ordinance and a City Commissioner, Manager and staff pledged to respect our environment and civil rights.. As Al Gore, Jr. wrote in Earth in the Balance (1992), environmental problems are often associated with corruption.
In secret, behind locked gates, the managers of the Nation's oldest (European-founded) City illegally dumped 40,000 cubic yards of contaminants in the Old City Reservoir, where people fished and swam for generations.
Now our City and State want to bring the contaminants back to Lincolnville, negotiating in secret, without ever informing the two (2) affected Environmental Justice communities of Lincolnville and West Augustine.
Three City Commissioners (MAYOR JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, JR., VICE MAYOR DONALD CRICHLOW and Commissioner ERROL JONES) rubberrstamped a Consent Order without allowing promised public comment. Two other City Commissioners (GEORGE GARDNER and SUSAN BURK) left the meeting without either discussing or voting on the issue. This required citizens to act to commence an Administrative Law Judge hearing to obtain sworn candid answers and a full remedy.
St. Augustine's pollution symbolizes our City's putative leaders' lack of trust in the public's right to know. This is advanced citizenship. Please share your questions and whistleblower disclosures about City government, today and every day. Then let's demand answers. Expect democracy. “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32
For more information, please see www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com or contact Judith
Seraphin of the Lincolnville Neighborhood Association at 829-0808.
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Note: PX references are to Petitioners’ Exhibits filed with FDEP in State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection v. City of St. Augustine. Attached is PX-3, Anne Schindler’s column from December 18, 2007 Folio Weekly.
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