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Stauffer site cleanup back on track

The EPA is allowing the company to return to the plan that was withdrawn in 2000 after residents protested.

By NORA KOCH
Published June 4, 2005

TARPON SPRINGS - A plan to clean up the Stauffer Chemical Superfund site is moving again, and company officials say the remediation could be complete by the end of 2006.

In documents filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa this week, the Environmental Protection Agency and Stauffer Management Co. formally agreed to the cap-and-mound method, the same remediation plan that was derailed by public outcry in 2000.

After the company completed nearly $4-million in tests between 2000 and 2004, Stauffer and the EPA determined they should stick to the original plan.

The mound-and-cap method is still unacceptable, said Tarpon Springs resident Mary Mosley, a longtime opponent of the Stauffer cleanup plan. She wonders why the EPA won't push for Stauffer to physically remove the contaminated soil from Tarpon Springs.

"The Anclote River is very important to our fisherman and economy, and they're just going to leave it here?" she said. She said she would learn more about the plan and fight it again if necessary.

Rules require a 30-day period for public comment on the agreement. Details are to be published in an upcoming Federal Register, according to the EPA.

Often known as the "mound and cap" approach, the plan calls for the contaminated soil to be piled up. A solidifying agent such as Portland cement would be added to the soil to harden it and chemically lock the pollutants in place. Then a watertight cap would be installed over the site.

The testing done in the last several years determined that the mound-and-cap plan was the best option, Stauffer Management president Brian Spiller said.

"It proved further to the agency and the public that the the remedy was fully protective to human health and the environment," Spiller said.

Details on the plan will come in the several months. After public comment, Stauffer is expected to submit plans for proceeding with the cleanup. Stauffer also is required to pay for the entire project, according to the documents. Stauffer Chemical, a phosphorus-processing plant, operated at the site on the Pinellas-Pasco county line from 1947 to 1981. Twelve years later, the federal government declared the site a health hazard.

--Nora Koch can be reached at 727 771-4304 or nkoch@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 4, 2005, 06:14:28]