Developer pleads guilty to polluting

By TIMES STAFF
Published October 13, 2007

TAMPA - A developer pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to illegally discharging a pollutant into a city storm drain.

James Driggers, an employee for Cypress Gulf Development Corp., and a co-worker were cleaning an above-ground fuel storage tank at a work site on Oct. 17, 2006, when they let diesel fuel and cleaner flow from the tank into a storm drain along 34th Street in Tampa, according to court documents.

Driggers was following instructions from another employee when he placed the tank over the storm drain, prosecutors said. He let the fluid drain for 20 to 25 minutes, according to court records.

Prosecutors said the diesel fuel and cleaning agent affected several waterways leading from the storm drain into open ditches that flowed into the McKay Bay Preserve, part of the Tampa Bay National Estuary.

"Defendant took timely action, at its own expense, to mitigate the harm caused by the discharge," the plea agreement said. Prosecutors said that on the day of the spill, Cypress Gulf Development Corp. hired a company to clean up the entire discharge and spent nearly $22,000 to do so.

A sentencing date will be set.

[Last modified October 12, 2007, 23:41:03]