Editorial: St. Augustine's illegal dumping fix is correct

Editorial: St. Augustine's illegal dumping fix is correct



Publication Date: 11/11/07


The St. Augustine City Commission will be asked Tuesday to take steps to correct its huge mistake; illegally dumping solid waste in a borrow pit.

The fix estimated to cost approximately $800,000 of city tax dollars will require clean up of a city-owned borrow pit on North Holmes Boulevard, closure of an old city landfill site on South Riberia Street and other corrective measures stipulated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The city also has to pay DEP a $33,698 fine.

Holmes and South Riberia are linked because the errant waste in the Holmes pit came from the old South Riberia landfill near where the city has had a wastewater plant for years. Longtime residents will remember the former police pistol range being located in the area more than 30 years ago.

The illegally dumped materials will form a 19-foot mound over the landfill site as part of the closure process. The mound's materials will be safe, we're told. They will be cleaned up, capped and monitored to prevent groundwater intrusion, and covered with vegetation. City staff envisions a future passive park encompassing the mound.

Assistant City Manager John Regan is in charge of the cleanup project. The public will have to get up early to hear and to speak about the DEP order on which the City Commission will vote. The special meeting begins at 8 a.m. in the Alcazar Room at City Hall, 75 King St.

The city's mistake was reported in an anonymous tip to an environmental hot line in 2006. The Record, in an Oct. 23 story, identified Ed Slavin as the person who reported the tip. Slavin and the city are often at odds. Regan said he did not know who reported it.

"Assuming Mr. Slavin made the call, he did the right thing," Regan told The Record on Friday. "The (caller) was a little misguided because they reported it was hazardous waste and it was not." [Ed Slavin's note: I told the feds what the photos showed. If anyone was misguided, it was John Regan, who was angry that I reported the city to DEP and told me that because of what I "had done" it would be a "long process." I nevery deposited the contents of the old city dump in the Old City Reservoir -- that was done by WILLIAM B. HARRISS. Regan also demanded copies of the video provided to EPA and DEP, which they advised me not to give the city. End of Ed Slavin's note[

Regan said the tip led to the subsequent DEP investigation and the order to the city to clean up the mess. "We wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't for the fundamental mistake made two years ago," he said.

The tip led to more than just the DEP action. City Manager Bill Harriss has reorganized responsibilities for key managers and established an immediate notification system for employees to report similar problems, without reprisal. As for the illegal dumping at the Holmes site, Regan said the city "was not savvy as an organization to catch it" initially. The city thought it was on the right track but later found out it was working with the wrong agency; the St. Johns River Water Management District rather than Florida DEP's solid waste division.

That mistake resulted, Regan said, because of a lack of knowledge of the process by some of the city's engineering staff. "What we did was wrong, no question about it," he said.

We agree. There should have been greater oversight and review by senior managers because of the potential for environmental mistakes.

The city is moving on correctly. It has acknowledged the error, negotiated a remedy and created new procedures for staff to follow.

Now, it is time for the cleanup to begin.


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