EPA gives county grant to clean busy roadways
By Kyle LoJacono
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently gave Pasco $1 million to clean up land contaminated with motor oil, gasoline and other chemicals along some of the most used county roads.
Pasco was awarded the grant, the first of its kind in its 124-year history, and property owners along US 41 in Land O’ Lakes and US 301 in Zephyrhills, Dade City and Lacoochee can apply to have their land renewed. It requires no matching money from the county.
“The program to award the grant was very competitive,” said Philip Vorsatz, the EPA’s coordinator for Florida and seven other southern states. “Less than one in five counties that applied were approved.”
Vorsatz said the areas contaminated with the various chemicals are known as brownfields. The federal government is spending $76 million this year to redevelop brownfields in 40 states and on three American Indian tribes’ land.
One of the largest brownfields in the county is the site of the Dade City Business Center, which for years was a citrus and orange juice processing plant, according to Pasco senior planner for economic development and redevelopment Melanie Kendrick. The former operation contaminated the land with biodiesel. Another is the old Cummer Cypress sawmill site in Lacoochee.
Another major contributor to the brownfields is the large number of underground storage tanks in Pasco. The county listed in its application for the grant information from the state Department of Environmental Protection showing it has 2,143 within its boundaries, of which 546 are leaking.
“Often it’s things you might not even think of that play a big part in contaminating the ground,” Kendrick said. “Even dental X-rays back in the day.”
Pasco has 53 cattle dipping vats, which hold chemicals used to protect livestock from ticks and other parasites, leaking into the ground. Other major contributors to the brownfields are scrap metal salvage yards, dry cleaners, vehicle and boat repair shops and old railroad ties, which give off arsenic.
Half of the money will go to cleaning petroleum sites, with the other half focusing on hazardous waste.
The county is forming a committee of various stakeholders to develop a plan that reviews Pasco’s history. It will also interview residents who have lived in the county for many years to track down potential waste sites. The second phase will sample soil and water to find where to focus the cleanup.
One of the benefits of the program is if enough landowners participate, the county may receive additional federal money, as well as tax breaks and redevelopment grants to large landholders, in the future.
Kendrick said, “It’s a touchy subject,” for owners to submit their land for the cleanups.
“No one wants people to think of their land as dirty,” Kendrick said. “However, it can help attract more investment in the county overall, which helps everyone.
“There are companies that develop only on former brownfields,” Kendrick continued. “For example, a successful brownfield site is the Ikea furniture store in Ybor City.”
That Ybor location was the home of a canning company from 1936 to 1981.
County Commissioner Pat Mulieri said the board predicts this grant will continue to turn Pasco from a bedroom community into one with a large number of high-paying jobs.
“This brownfields program will help us rebuild rundown areas all over Pasco,” Mulieri said. “It will help everyone from US 19 in west Pasco to US 301 in east Pasco and everyone in between. It’s a win-win opportunity because we cleanup and bring in jobs at the same time.”
The people along US 301 in northern Pasco could especially benefit from the program, as the area has seen economic hardships since the sawmill closed in 1959 and the citrus facility ceased operating. The location has seen stagnate growth in part because of the contaminated land, according to Kendrick.
For more information on the program, visit portal.pascocountyfl.net.
