Is a phosphate plant in rural Hillsborough County endangering nearby residents? This is a straightforward question - and health officials have an obligation to answer it as quickly as possible. The families who live near Coronet Industries, south of Plant City in eastern Hillsborough, are understandably worried about pollution that has appeared in recent drinking water tests. They need facts from the government agencies responsible for protecting them.
Florida U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson toured the plant Wednesday as part of a public relations effort to goose state and federal regulators. Two Plant City communities have waited for months on a determination of whether runoff from the plant has increased local cancer rates. This month, authorities tested 43 wells near Coronet, finding one with elevated levels of arsenic, a cancer-causing agent, and nine with high levels of boron, which can irritate the nose, throat and internal organs. Authorities are conducting more extensive tests but have yet to draw a link between Coronet and the pollutants.
This comprehensive review of Coronet's pollution record is overdue, and we are pleased that Nelson has knocked some heads to give this investigation a spark. Seven hundred people turned out this month for a public hearing to air their concerns. The question of Coronet's responsibility goes beyond the issue of environmental law. If the company is not responsible, health officials still have a problem with pollution levels in this community. From the slow response, state and federal health officials also deserve a big chunk of the blame for the climate of fear in Plant City.
State and federal law enforcement officers have formed an interagency team to investigate any criminal allegations that may come from the environmental probe. That effort should provide a fuller chronology of Coronet's operating practices, along with a record of when and how public health regulators got involved. Major findings should be made promptly available, and officials should meet regularly with residents to address any of their concerns. No one should live in fear of their own drinking water.
