A Times Editorial

Enough delay at Stauffer site

At the request of environmental officials, Stauffer Management Co. plans to do a project to prevent further erosion of earth from the Stauffer Chemical Superfund site into the Anclote River.

But this is a little like closing the barn door after the horse has gotten out.

Chunks of dirt and radioactive slag from the Superfund site have been sliding into the river for years, but nearby residents' calls for a fix fell on deaf ears until they asked state Sen. Jack Latvala for help. Political pressure should not have been required to get environmental agencies to do their job.

The Anclote River passes right by the 130-acre Stauffer site, which is massively polluted with radioactive elements and heavy metals. For more than 30 years, the property northwest of Tarpon Springs was home to a plant that burned phosphate ore in a giant furnace and turned it into elemental phosphorus for use in fertilizers and food products. The plant closed in 1981.

The property is considered so hazardous that it is fenced off and inaccessible to the public. Air monitors checked the windborne dust for harmful pollutants, and monitoring wells are used to determine whether arsenic and other harmful chemicals in the dirt have penetrated into the underground water supply.

Yet for years, environmental officials and Stauffer employees ignored the visible evidence that soil and slag, which is a hardened byproduct from the furnace floor that was piled along the edges of the property, has been falling into the river. The Anclote River empties into the Gulf of Mexico not far from the site and is heavily used by recreational boaters and anglers.

Now a solution of sorts is planned, but what took so long?

That is a question that Latvala and U.S. Rep. Mike Bilirakis ought to ask of the state and federal environmental offices charged with oversight of this Superfund site. Are they keeping a careful eye on the property, as they have promised residents they would, or aren't they?

Officials have conceded in the past that after the Superfund site is cleaned up, a cleanup of contaminants that seeped into the Anclote River will have to be done. The erosion that has been ignored, plus any that occurs in the future, will only make the river cleanup more expensive and difficult.

The erosion-control project getting under way now is only a temporary measure. Riprap will be piled up to stabilize the river bank. Stauffer Management officials intend to do nothing more permanent until the federal government figures out how to clean up the entire Superfund site.

Given the fierce debate about the cleanup method and the pace of study and negotiation on that issue, the wait may be too long to rely indefinitely on riprap, a short-term stabilization method at best. Environmental officials should insist that Stauffer Management begin design of a permanent solution as soon as the riprap is in place. The Anclote River is a valuable resource that should be protected from the hazards at Stauffer.

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