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AMBER MOBLEYThe state orders that decontamination plans be in place by 2008 for a polluted site at W Waters and Himes.
NORTH TAMPA - After nearly a quarter-century in legal limbo, the fate of a polluted 16-acre tract at W Waters and Himes avenues may finally be resolved.
There, a closed Honeywell manufacturing plant sits vacant, a toxic dinosaur located between the bustling Dale Mabry business district and the residential Egypt Lake neighborhood.
The groundwater, soil and a lake on the property are contaminated with tons of various metals and other toxic substances. Honeywell, a maker of defense, transportation and electronics components, polluted the site manufacturing circuit boards there until 1984, and has been in a long running legal dispute with the property's owner regarding the cleanup.
Now the state is ordering Honeywell to have decontamination plans in place by the end of 2008 or possibly face penalties.
The decision - a "draft ultimatum" from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection - will likely change once Honeywell and the property's owner have input, said Tim Bahr, administrator of the DEP's Hazardous Waste Regulation division.
Honeywell and the Simon Family Trust, which owns the land, have until Friday to submit their comments or suggested changes.
Honeywell is reviewing the DEP's decision and will respond directly to the DEP, said company representative Victoria Streitfeld.
David Simon, a Los Angeles attorney who represents his family's trust, is pleased with the DEP's decision. But he says he expects Honeywell "to try everything they can to get around it."
Honeywell occupied the site from 1965 to 1984, but the company's worst contamination at the plant came in 1982, when a faulty pipeline leaked 3,000 gallons of methylene chloride, a solvent that irritates the skin and may be a carcinogen.
Nearby water wells were contaminated as a result of the spill, and in 1983 Honeywell paid to connect 20 nearby homes to the public water system.
"This is 23 years later and we're just starting the cleanup process," Simon said.
Honeywell disagrees, saying it has spent more than $13-million cleaning the site, pumping and treating groundwater 24 hours a day, seven days a week since 1983 as well as other treatments.
Simon insists that's not nearly enough.
"They're trying to treat cancer with a Band-Aid and it won't realistically get the job done," he said. "The time for cleanup has come."
Simon knew nothing of the 1982 leak or other environmental problems because Honeywell employees tried to cover them up, according to federal court records. The company, which leased the site from the Simon Family Trust, actually claimed to be the owner on documents related to pollution remediation efforts. Simon only learned of the pollution problem when he was asked to sign a water use permit in 1996.
Honeywell acknowledges responsibility for fixing the pollution problem, but continues to debate how the site should be cleaned. The company says Simon is an obstructionist whose legal actions have delayed the start of a comprehensive cleanup.
During the last five years, Simon sued Honeywell in federal court and won a $250,000 judgment and also appealed a DEP judgment regarding the site.
But Simon estimates those actions may have caused only a 35-day delay in proceedings. Honeywell's actions, he said, have caused decades of delay.
"They don't want to clean it in three or four years," Simon said. "They want to spread their money out over 30 or 40 or 50 years."
Estimated costs to clean up the site range widely from $8-million to $50-million, depending on who's asked.
The vacant, 165,000-square-foot plant, complete with loading docks, green space and parking lots sits at the corner of West Waters and Himes.
On nearby streets, residential back yards reach to the 16-acre site's property line. But some neighbors who live just one street over from the contaminated site have few concerns.
"It's there," said resident Dorothy Stevenson. "I've been here 27 years and it's never been a real problem. Plus we have city water now."
Ouida Fults has similar sentiments.
"As long as they clean it up is all that matters," Fults said. "I just hate to see that valuable property just sitting there."