Superfund buyout moves at slow pace

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 22, 2007

PENSACOLA - Federal officials have offered to buy dozens of homes built near a Superfund site, but only a handful of families have taken offers.

The six families that have agreed to sell their homes are among 55 living in Clarinda Triangle, a neighborhood contaminated by toxic pollutants from the Escambia Treating Co. The defunct wood-treating company dumped large amounts of chemicals into unlined holding ponds.

Although most residents agree there are health hazards in the neighborhood, many are reluctant to move.

"We grew up here," Tiffany Nickson, 26, told the Pensacola News Journal. "Everybody knows everybody, and most everyone is related. We don't want to leave."

Superfund is the federal government's program to clean up hazardous waste sites.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is leading the relocation project and cleanup. Some residents said negotiations stalled when a government appraiser valued their property below market value.

"We weren't going to stand for those lowball appraisals," said Katherine Wade, community director for the Clarinda Triangle Association. But a new appraiser was hired in May, and negotiations seem to be back on track, Wade said.

[Last modified July 22, 2007, 01:29:28]