Quincy site may be added to Superfund list
The site along State Road 12 was abandoned in 1990. Toxic chemicals used to treat lumber has filtered into the aquifer, contaminated a creek and river and killed trees.
Along State Road 12, between Havana and Quincy, fenced off behind bushes and trees, is a nondescript industrial yard motorists unfamiliar with the area would drive by without noticing.
But the 18-acre site sits in the crosshairs of federal and state environmental officials who want it declare a Superfund toxic waste site. And they want it cleaned up.
The Environmental Protection Agency wants to add the former Post & Lumber Preserving Company site to its Superfund clean-up list. The agency has scheduled a meeting for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Gadsden County Library to answer residents’ questions about the project.
The Post & Lumber Preserving Company abandoned operations at the site along State Road 12 in 1990. All that's left are two run down buildings and tons of contaminated soil. The company had produced pressure-treated posts and lumber there for 42 years. State and federal tests found the operation contaminated the soil with hazardous levels of arsenic and PCPs. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection in 2013 found the toxins had flowed into the surficial aquifer.
“It needs cleaning up. They need to clean it up,” said James Tipper. The 55-year old Tipper has lived across the street from the site for 41 years. Standing on his 5-acres of land, he points out stumps of oak, pine and pecan trees killed by the toxins, he said according to the EPA.
“They came in here and replaced our sod,” Tipper said. “I’m going to the meeting. I don’t want those chemicals flowing back onto my property.”
The EPA found that an onsite waste pond often overflowed when the site was in operation spreading the toxins beyond the company's 18 acres. A stream runs through the property and empties into the Little River. DEP found that creek and river sediments are contaminated and more than 96,000 cubic yards of river soil and sediment needs to be removed.
DEP suspects another 77,000 cubic yards on site and 19,000 cubic yards offsite need to be removed – a cubic yard weighs more than a ton. DEP wrote to the EPA in August asking that the Post & Lumber Preserving Company site be added to the Superfund cleanup list.
Brenda Holt, Gadsden County Commission chair, wants to know more about the proposal.
“We hope it will help us with the cleanup, but we need to know more,” said Holt. “I want to know more about the condition of the site now and I wonder where the liability lies.”
An EPA spokeswoman said during public hearings about other proposed Superfund sites, residents have expressed liability concerns and fears of lower property values.
The owners and operators of a site where hazardous waste is released into the environment can be held responsible for the cost of the cleanup. The Post & Lumber Preserving Company is listed as an inactive Florida corporation, owned by the estate of James Gilbert.
Since 1986, the Superfund has cleaned up more than 850 toxic waste sites. A review last year found that more than 450 of these sites are now being used for other purposes and together generate more than $29 billion in annual economic activity.
The EPA is accepting public comment through November about designating the land as a Superfund toxic waste site. Thursday's meeting at the Gadsden Library is the public’s first opportunity to discuss the proposal publicly with the EPA.
Once the public comment period closes, the EPA will do a remedial investigation and feasibility study to determine if the site meets the criteria to be included on the Superfund list and what the cost of a cleanup would be.
Reporter James Call can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on Twitter @CallTallahassee.
To Go
What: EPA public meeting on The Post & Lumber Preserving Company site
Where: Gadsden County Library,732 S Pat Thomas Pkwy, Quincy, Fla.
When: Thursday 6 p.m.
Submit comments at https://www.regulations.gov.