Testing conducted by Environment Florida and U.S. PIRG suggests that soil and water in neighborhoods near four Jacksonville area Superfund sites did not get contaminated by hazardous materials in the wake of flooding from Hurricane Irma.
Their findings suggest that Floridians will not have to deal with the same toxic hurricane side effects that Texans did post-Harvey. In the days following that storm, flooding and other damage may have compromised sites contaminated with hazardous materials, potentially posing a risk to surrounding areas.
Researchers took samples at Kerr McGee Chemical CorpKerr McGee Chemical Corp., Pickettville Road Landfill, Coleman-Evans Wood Preserving Co. and Hipps Road Landfill — all sites in or near Jacksonville considered Superfund sites.
“Our findings indicate that chemicals did not wash off from these four sites into streets and neighborhoods,” said Jennifer Rubiello, state director of Environment Florida. “We’re really glad to have this information to share with residents. We can’t guarantee that no toxins escaped, but we didn’t find any.”
Superfund sites are areas so polluted that they qualify for federal funds to be allotted for their cleanup and redevelopment via the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Florida has 52 of them. including 17 in Hillsborough and one in Pinellas County. Rubiello said they didn't sample such sites in the Tampa Bay area because they did not experience the flooding that would precipitate leaking of toxic materials.
Despite the potential threat neighborhoods near such properties face, the Trump administration may cut the program tasked with their cleanup by some 30 percent.
Environmental groups argue that would be a big mistake.
“Storms happen, but people harmed by natural disasters should not also have to worry about toxic chemicals spreading into their neighborhoods,” said Kara Cook-Schultz, a national toxics expert for U.S. PIRG “It’s a relief to hear that the tests from outside some Jacksonville sites didn’t find unusual levels of contamination. We need these sites cleaned up and the contaminated soil removed from flood-prone areas so that in the future we have one less thing to worry about after a storm.”
This article appears in Sep 14-21, 2017.