CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — The city of Fort Myers is looking to Citrus County to get rid of a toxic sludge that's laced with arsenic. Citrus County commissioners, however, are ready to fight against it being brought to their area.
- Plan to bring sludge to facility north of Crystal River
- Commission wants to protect area waterways
- Department of Environmental Protection says substance "safe"
"What we don't want is for them to make their mess our mess," Commissioner Jeff Kinnard said.
Kinnard worries about the substance getting into Citrus County waters if it's brought here.
The plan is to bring it to the LafargeHolcim facility north of Crystal River. That facility is located in Evacuation Zone A, not far from the coast.
The sludge is residue from a water treatment plant in the 1960s.
Kinnard said the county is already working hard to protect its waterways.
The city of Fort Myers and the DEP stress the substance is safe, but Kinnard isn't buying it.
"If it's so "safe," they need to be convincing their community to keep it there and not bring it up here," Kinnard said.
"We're trying to do the right thing to clean up our own community, and taking in 30,000 tons of contaminated product just doesn't make sense," he added.
As of right now, final plans haven't been set.
County set to take legal action
Jocelyn Gerst, a spokeswoman with LafargeHolcim said in a statement that the Citrus County facility is just one option.
"In collaboration with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Agency (FDEP) and the city of Ft. Myers, plans for this project are still in development and all options are being considered," the statement said.
Kinnard said the county is prepared to take legal action, referring chapter 62-780 of the Florida Administrative Code: “Contamination shall not be spread into previously uncontaminated areas or less contaminated areas through untreated discharges, improper treatment, improper disposal, or improper storage.”
He hopes the city of Fort Myers will explore other options.
"We believe that we do have ground to stand on and we will certainly take legal action if necessary. We don't want to go there," Kinnard said.
Representatives from the City of Ft. Myers say because the substance is like Jell-O, their landfill would limit them to two truckloads a day. They say it would take up to 11 months to do, and those trucks would have to drive through residential neighborhoods.
They say bringing the substance to Citrus County would take 45 days.