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Hernando Today

Channel Dredge Faces More Delays

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: January 29, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - The already stormy sea that has engulfed the Hernando Beach channel project got rockier Wednesday.

Test results received by the county's consultant late Tuesday indicate possible contamination by petroleum products in the sediment at the bottom of the channel.

That forced the postponement of a hearing slated to begin at Brooksville City Hall Wednesday morning to determine whether the county's plan to place the dredged material on private property on Eagle Nest Drive is environmentally sound.

Richard Brightman, a Tallahassee attorney hired by the county to navigate the dredge project to a starting date, asked the judge for a 60-day abeyance to allow for more testing.

A consultant hired by Brightman's firm to collect evidence for the hearing noted some gaps in data and ordered more, Brightman told Judge David Maloney at the start of the proceedings.

The results showed all contaminant levels in the sediment fell well under state guidelines except petroleum, Brightman said.

"We don't know if this is a sampling anomaly or a real problem," he said. Until that's known, Brightman said, "the county cannot in good faith" defend the permit.

DEP agrees with the move, Amanda Bush, an attorney representing the department, told Maloney. So do the petitioners, said Carol Oz, who is representing the group of residents who contend the plan will harm the environment and increase the risk of flooding in the area.

The Manuel family, who owns the Eagle Nest property, also wants to be sure the material isn't polluted, said Jake Varn, the attorney representing the Manuels.

"If this has got something nasty in it we don't want it on our property," Varn said.

Maloney agreed with Brightman's request to schedule the hearing as soon as possible after the test results come in, rather than wait the full 60 days.

But the problems don't end there.

A petition has been filed to challenge the county's impending permit for its alternate disposal site off Shoal Line Boulevard, which could mean significant delays to secure a permit for that site.

DEP is poised to issue a permit to allow the county to dump and drain roughly 50,000 cubic yards of dredged material on the county-owned property that once housed a wastewater treatment plant.

Neil Law III is challenging the plan on the grounds that draining the spoil will degrade water quality in nearby Minnow Creek and the adjacent wetlands, according to the petition.

Law is the son of Neil Law Jr., the prominent Brooksville cattleman and landowner who died last year. The Laws were among the county's first settlers, and Law III is a member of the family's sixth generation here, the petition notes.

The Laws have owned property on Minnow Creek since the 1930s, and the family has watched over the years as the construction of Hernando Beach and the wastewater treatment plant have harmed the environment, according to the petition.

Any plans for spoil disposal "should not include sites within the Minnow Creek watershed," the petition states.

DEP must review the petition to determine whether it warrants a hearing. If so, the department forwards the petition to the state's Division of Administrative Hearings.

Now the county is scrambling on three fronts, County Administrator David Hamilton said.

Most concerning is the potential vulnerability of the $6 million in state funding appropriated for the $9 million project to deepen and widen the channel, Hamilton said. County officials have said they need to put the dredge project out to bid by the end of March to ensure the funding remains intact.

County Commissioner Dave Russell, a former state lawmaker who helped create the state's small port dredging program, said he has asked Sen. Mike Fasano and Rep. Rob Schenck to do what they can to make sure the money doesn't disappear.

"I think we'll make a strong enough case that we've invested this much to date, and we should be able to pursue this thing to the conclusion," he said.

But despite the state's budget woes, the funding is not in immediate danger, Fasano said Wednesday.

The funding, appropriated from a Department of Transportation trust fund, is almost certainly safe until June of 2010 when the budget authorization for those dollars expires, Fasano said. If necessary, Fasano will said he'll do whatever he can to extend the money beyond that date.

Hamilton, who received a call from Brightman Tuesday night about the test results, said the latest development of possible petroleum contamination raises troubling questions. Mainly, why wasn't that sampling done earlier?

"Ten p.m. from a hotel room to the county administrator is probably not the time it should have come up," Hamilton said.

DEP requires applicants to test sediment for contaminants such as metals and pesticides, but not for oil and grease, said department spokeswoman Pamala Vazquez. The county elected to do that testing on its own.

Now that results have indicated possible contamination, the county is doing the right thing by retesting "so we know those numbers are valid numbers," Vazquez said.

Vazquez declined to speculate on how another round of positive test results would affect the county's permit. The concentration of the contaminants would be a factor, she said.

But Russell acknowledged the task of disposing of polluted slurry would likely "change the whole complexion of the project" and almost certainly mean further delays and rising costs.

"That gives me a headache thinking about it," he said.

Hamilton continued to voice confidence the dredge would get done.

"The project will move forward, but the hill is that much steeper," Hamilton said.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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