City of St. Augustine, Florida's Illegal Dumping Coverup continues: Day 375

City of St. Augustine, Florida’s Illegal Dumping Coverup continues: Day 375
30,000,000 pounds of contaminants were dumped from the old city dump into the Old City Reservoir -- enough to fill in six Olympic size swimming pools to a depth of six feet or to cover a football field to a depth of 11.2 feet.
For 375 days, since February 27, 2006, there has been a full-on coverup -- public questions are not being answered, the State’s Attorney is not prosecuting, the City Attorney and Public Works Director mysteriously resigned, and the City is in the process of being fined (proposed fine $47,248). FDEP did not propose the $47,248 fine until AFTER the November 2006 elections, helping re-elect incumbents GEORGE GARDNER and JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, JR.
Our questions have never been answered by City Commissioners, who would rather talk about anything but the massive pollution scandal.
The range of questions that our City government will not answer is not mind-boggling.
Consider these excerpts from the March 11, 2006 City Commission minutes of the City of St. Augustine::.
Ed Slavin, P. O. Box 3084, stated that he had been waiting for answers, and he proceeded with statements about the City along with questions as follows: The City was withholding documents he had requested The City should post the entire agenda on their website What was happening with the archeological site next to the high school When would the Commissioners vote for a living wage What about a moratorium on junkets and development When would the Commissioners address the numerous technical problems that occurred during Commission meetings St. Augustine was being ruined by developers Which Commissioners visited the old city reservoir, when, with whom and what were they told Why was dumping occurring in the old city reservoir after the St. Johns Water Management District ordered the City to stop dumping by certified letter on January 10 th Why did the City dump approximately 20,000 cubic yards of plastic, metal and other refuse and unclean fill in the reservoir after being ordered not to do so Did the City consider the laws merely suggestions Was it the first time the City had dumped in the reservoir or on other property without proper permits What year did the City start dumping in the reservoir What and how much had been dumped since the City started dumping at each place that they dumped on How many fish were in the reservoir before the latest dumping Were there any fish alive in there now and how many How many fish were killed by the dumping Had the City checked on the fish and if not, why not What had the City learned from the dumping Was a chief environmental office required to protect the environment from further destruction What baseline data existed about aquatic life and water purity in the reservoir What analytical chemistry tests had the City performed in the reservoir since February 27 th and what were the results Who knew the City was dumping at the reservoir
Had a professional engineer, the City Attorney, Mr. Pence (City environmental Attorney), the City auditor or the City Commission approved the dumping How come the City had not dumped in a proper landfill with permits Who inspected the material prior to dumping What was the City Manager’s motivation for dumping in the reservoir and was his motivation learned from his predecessor Mr. Pomar Who was paying for the City environmental attorney, what was his hourly rate, how much had he billed to date, and he said he would like a copy Was the developer of the San Sebastian Inland Harbor project paying any of the cost to remediate the dumping and if not why not Was Mr. Pence representing individual City managers and the City at the same time and was that a conflict of interest Why was the City dumping on City property for a private developer and who had approved it What public purpose was served by dumping in the reservoir The River Management District denied a discount permit unless there was a public purpose He was waiting to hear the public purpose for dumping in the reservoir

12.B/ GENERAL PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS AND COMMENTS (15 minutes per presentations) (None Scheduled) Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:03 p.m.