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Stauffer Cleanup Could Begin In Spring

Andy Jones, THE TAMPA TRIBUNE, 2003

In the background is a mound of slag, the byproduct of phosphate or processing that went on for decades at the long-closed Stauffer Chemical plant in Tarpon Springs. Federal officials say the long-delayed clean-up of the Superfund hazardous waste site on the Pasco-Pinellas County line should begin this spring.

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: November 7, 2008

Updated:

TARPON SPRINGS - After more than 15 years of meetings, debate and planning, the cleanup of the former Stauffer Chemical plant hazardous waste site could begin in the spring.

Removing potential toxic waste from the former phosphate ore processing plant overlooking the Anclote River could take two years to complete.

In its latest update, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports the plans for the Stauffer cleanup are 90 percent complete.

A detailed description of the proposed cleanup design can be viewed at the Tarpon Springs Public Library, 138 E. Lemon St.

From 1950 until 1981 the plant, on 130 acres north of the city on Anclote Boulevard, just south of Pasco County, manufactured elemental phosphorus used in agricultural pesticides.

During its years of operation, hazardous and radioactive chemical waste was deposited in unlined lagoons on the site. The property is on the EPA Superfund list of the nation's most contaminated waste sites.

In the early 1990s, local environmental groups began lobbying to have the EPA place the site on the Superfund cleanup list. Through the years, vigorous debate has ensued over the best way to handle the cleanup.

Many environmental activists have been urging that all waste be removed from the site and taken to a hazardous materials disposal center.

With minor changes, however, the EPA's favored remedy, impounding hazardous soil and materials beneath on-site capped mounds, has remained largely unchanged. Stauffer Management Co., as the owner of the land is known, supports onsite impoundment.

Stauffer Management removed from the site roughly 30,000 gallons of liquid phosphorous that had been stored in above-ground tanks about 10 years ago.

In an update report, EPA proposes to encapsulate radiological and chemically contaminated material in two mounds. There would be an 18.5-acre mound on the north portion of the site and 29 acres in the southern.

The cap will be created from plastic liner, 18 inches of fill soil, and 6 inches of top soil to support growth of grass.

Beneath the southern parcel a fiber reinforced plastic groundwater cutoff wall will be installed, at a depth of 20 feet, to reduce the migration of groundwater from this pond.

The cap over the southern parcel will also include plastic grids and a geo-fabric with crushed stone to accommodate the cutoff wall.

An estimated 196,000 cubic yards of hazardous materials from other areas of the site will be relocated to the mounds.

At the request of the community, once restoration begins it will be determined whether ponds near the of the eastern shore of Meyer's Cove can be excavated.

If significant amounts of phosphorus are encountered the material will be capped rather than removed. Phosphorus becomes highly combustible when it comes into contact with air, making removal dangerous, the report states.

Future uses of the site could be related to boating, including a marina and boat storage and services, the EPA has said.

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