DPW Cleanup Efforts Could Begin

BROOKSVILLE - Instead of waiting for the state to review past assessment reports, the county plans to go ahead with the first step to clean up the former contaminated public works building off West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

The news comes one day after residents in South Brooksville urged the county not to allow threatened budget cuts to impede the ongoing cleanup.

"We want to keep the project moving, which is what the commissioners and the public want," said Assistant County Engineer Greg Sutton.

To that end, Sutton said he will ask county commissioners either at next Tuesday's meeting or at their May 20 meeting to approve the first step in what will be a multi-phase cleanup effort.

Brooksville-based Creative Environmental Solutions, the county-hired consultant handling the DPW project, is asking $161,790 to start what Sutton calls the "intermediate remedial action."

This would be the 11th change order for Creative, hired by county commissioners in October 2005 for $77,050. If this latest price increase is approved, the county will have paid the firm more than $1.7 million.

Sutton admitted that the testing phase and subsequent cleanup is expensive. But to do the job properly, using trained professionals who follow prescribed regulations, it costs money, he said.

According to Sutton, Creative plans to remove shallow contaminated soil on-site (by the ditch on the south part of the property) and at an adjoining lot. Work crews would dig down about two feet below the surface and remove various hydrocarbons, heavy metals and various contaminants.

Sutton said the consultant believes he has finished all sampling and testing of the site and all information was forwarded to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), which continues to review four site assessment reports before recommending the next step in the remediation, or cleanup process.

This intermediate action does not require DEP approval, Sutton said.

Once the DEP gives the final clearance on full cleanup of all the contaminants, the decision will be made as to how to get rid of it. That may involve trucking it away to a landfill designed to hold contaminated waste, such as one in St. Cloud, Sutton said.

However, if the DEP disagrees with the consultant's assessment reports, the agency may order additional sampling and testing.

County Administrator David Hamilton assured residents of south Brooksville at a Tuesday budget workshop that there would be enough money to complete the cleanup.

Here is a history of Creative Environmental Solutions'

change orders since being hired in October 2005:

Change order 1: November 2005 ($22,276)

Change order 2: December 2005 ($89,983)

Change order 3: May 2006 ($216,750.75)

Change order 4: May 2006 ($171,715.30)

Change order 5: September 2006 ($179,692)

Change order 6: March 2007 ($352,000)

Change order 7: June 2007 ($144,700)

Change order 8: October 2007 ($167,798)

Change order 9: November 2007 ($59,192)

Change order 10: January 2008 ($187,000)