DPW Cleanup Bill About $2 Million

Hernando Today

BROOKSVILLE - County Administrator David Hamilton met with the county's assistant engineer Tuesday morning to start setting time lines for cleaning up the contaminated former public works compound in downtown Brooksville.

Hamilton said he hopes to present county commissioners at their Sept. 16 meeting with those time lines and other recommendations to move the Department of Public Works project forward.

Hamilton said his meeting with Assistant County Engineer Gregg Sutton was productive and that Sutton, who has taken the reins of the department of public works while DPW Director Charles Mixson serves out a 10-day suspension, has a "can-do" attitude in moving forward.

Among other things, Hamilton criticized Mixson for his handling of the cleanup at the former contaminated DPW facility off West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Hamilton also criticized Mixson for delegating the day-to-day management of the DPW site remediation project - as well as the much-delayed Hernando Beach dredge project - to Sutton.

Both projects are nowhere near completion, "to the detriment of Mr. Sutton's professional reputation," Hamilton said.

"As the department director, you were responsible for (Sutton's) success," Hamilton wrote Mixson in a disciplinary memo.

In 2002, then-County Administrator Richard Radacky told Mixson to provide the county with a "game plan" for that contamination cleanup.

Six years later, the county is only now in the remediation, or initial cleanup phase.

But the costs have escalated to about $2 million since county commissioners began in earnest cleaning up the site in 2005.

It was in August of that year that commissioners hired its latest consultant - Creative Environmental Solutions - to head up the on- and off-site testing.

Creative's initial contract was for $77,050.

Today, 11 change orders later, Creative's bill is about $1.8 million.

Add in other consulting firm charges and related expenses and the price tag increases.

The county routinely dumped oils, pesticides and other contaminants on the grounds of the former depot. Neighbors there have long complained of health problems and have accused the county of not acting fast enough to deal with the problem. Contaminates were first discovered on the property in 1991.

Through the years, Hernando County has hired a string of consultants to handle the job, but Creative has been the main one since 2005.

The county also brought in two other sub-consultants to assist in the cleanup.

Atlanta-based MACTAC, hired in May 2007, has been paid $16,942.

HSA Engineers & Scientists of Tampa, also brought on-board in May 2007, has received $22,811.

Along the way, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has fined Hernando County $25,000 for failing to meet two agency-imposed deadlines related to the cleanup.

The county recently hired a hauling firm to work with Creative to truck away some of the contaminated soil at the site.

While all this is going on, the FDEP continues to review four site assessment reports submitted by Creative before recommending the final step in the remediation, or cleanup process.

Here is a history of Creative Environmental Solutions' change orders (contract additions) 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).

Change order 4: May 2006 ($171,715).

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).

Change order 11 June 2008 ($85,790).