releases: https://www.billnelson.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-bill-nelson-urges-epa-to-act-on-city-sludge-site
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.billnelson.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-bill-nelson-urges-epa-to-act-on-city-sludge-site | Sen. Bill Nelson urges EPA to act on city sludge site | 2017-12-01 | 2017 | 2017-12 | Democrat | House | FL | Bill Nelson | N000032 | www.billnelson.senate.gov | legacy | A DEP letter slamming the City of Fort Myers for not making public unsafe arsenic levels at its South Street sludge dump provoked another letter Friday – this one from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. Nelson, D-Florida, who asked the Environmental Protection Agency last August to investigate the city and DEP's handling of the decades-old dump site, again called on EPA chief Scott Pruitt to act on what he called an ongoing lack of transparency. "The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has said the City of Fort Myers did not provide DEP with the preliminary report showing elevated levels of arsenic. This lack of coordination and communication between state and local officials gravely concerns me, which (is) why I am again encouraging EPA to intervene," the letter reads in part. Taking the EPA to task Nelson first asked the EPA to step in because of a News-Press report in June revealing the dump's existence in a neighborhood where residents were unaware of the contamination, despite the city and DEP's knowledge of it. Pruitt's office assured the senator the situation was in hand. Recent events have shown otherwise. Over a week ago, The News-Press, not the city, made public the highest arsenic levels yet at the South Street site. The DEP's regional head Jon Iglehart followed Wednesday with a letter raking City Manager Saeed Kazemi over the coals for not keeping the public or his agency informed. Nelson's second letter gives the EPA chief an 'I told you so' reminder of an ongoing local problem responding to environmental concerns. Residents file intent to sue city under federal law The senator's letter to the EPA coincides with another to the agency, the city and the DEP, putting them on notice that residents intend to sue Fort Myers for the open dumping of contaminated waste; a violation of the EPA's Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. If successful, such a suit can force the cleanup of the South Street site at the federal level, taking it out of the city's hands. Dunbar residents file Intent to sue city under federal open dumping law by The News-Press on Scribd In response to the DEP's widely publicized scolding, the city on Friday posted long-awaited details of the South Street site assessment on its website – including a pointed reminder to the agency about who knew what, when. Find the city's update on its contaminated lime sludge site here. “On November 8, 2017, city staff and our consultants, GFA International Inc., met with FDEP staff at your Fort Myers office to discuss the preliminary results for the initial groundwater monitoring," Kazemi fired back at local DEP chief Jon Iglehart’s Wednesday rebuke. The letter raises anew questions about the motives and timing for when and what is made public about the controversial lime sludge dump. It implies the DEP wasn't overly concerned about the city making its test results public when it met with the city on Nov. 8. The agency even agreed to a potentially controversial action plan without public input. The plan involves four new monitoring wells placed upstream of the site that will be used to see if contaminants in the neighborhood affected the sludge – not the other way around. Fort Myers sludge testing takes unexpected turn DEP spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller said her agency wasn't informed about the new arsenic readings. "The city did not share results at that time (Nov. 8th)," Miller told The News-Press. It "simply provided the department an update on their intent to install additional monitoring wells." The timing of the meeting also suggests the city knew about the unsafe arsenic levels before the Nov. 7 election, where the sludge site was an issue in some close-call races. Kazemi didn't respond to The News-Press questions. Fort Myers fires back at DEP about sludge site transparency by The News-Press on Scribd In the wake of The News-Press' original report, State Rep. Matt Caldwell called for an inquiry into the way the DEP had handled the South Street site for the past 10 years. Caldwell, a Republican from North Fort Myers, chairs the Florida House Government Oversight Committee. "The DEP responded to my inquiry, but it is clear this should have been prioritized sooner," Caldwell said Friday. "The city has secured the site as a result of our action, and has taken measures to test the site. They should make the results of those tests public immediately." Three weeks later, it has. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |