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EDITORIAL: Tallevast Riddle: Same Questions, Always Different Answers

Posted on: Friday, 16 June 2006, 12:00 CDT

By The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

Jun. 16--How big is the plume of pollution beneath the soil of Tallevast?

How close to the surface? How deep into the aquifer?

How dangerous to residents living atop the known boundaries of the plume?

We keep asking the same questions -- and getting different answers. Just a few weeks ago, we thought we knew for sure. On May 3, we wrote that the plume resembled "a slightly irregular oval . . . like an artist's palette -- a 200-acre palette that encompasses virtually the entire community of Tallevast, a corner of Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport property to the west and big chunks of land to the east."

But, following an all-too-familiar pattern of the last two years, just when it appears you have your arms around the Tallevast pollution problem, new information surfaces to dash hopes for a timely and speedy resolution. Such is the situation today with an analysis of the latest data by The Herald's independent expert, chemist Wilma Subra. The data, provided by Lockheed Martin, the company that owns the former American Beryllium Co. plant from which the poisonous plume is believed to have leaked years ago, still does not adequately define the plume's dimensions nor assess its health threat to residents, Subra concluded.

This comes as Lockheed Martin officials await an opinion by the state Department of Environmental Regulation on whether its data is sufficient to trigger approval of a plan to clean up the plume, a pumping and filtering operation that could take up to 20 years to complete. Lockheed officials dispute Subra's findings, saying she may not have had access to all of the company's documents and reached conclusions not justified by the data.

Yet an independent engineer hired by Tallevast residents, Tim Varney, says Subra's findings confirm his own analysis of the data. He urges more test wells to confirm the plume's depth as well as its horizontal movement, saying groundwater hydrology has not been adequately assessed.

Also at issue is the threat posed by toxic vapors from chemical contaminants that Subra believes are at very shallow depths. Subra contends the vapors represent a health threat to residents whose homes are atop the plume and that they should be relocated at Lockheed Martin's expense.

It is unfortunate that there is such a level of rancor between residents and Lockheed Martin, but perhaps it is inevitable. The stage for distrust was set when residents learned in 2004 that Lockheed and the DEP had known of the chemical plume beneath Tallevast for more than three years before informing them of it. Meanwhile, the residents continued to drink, cook and wash with water from private wells that pulled from the contaminated groundwater source.

That blackout was exacerbated by Lockheed's continuing efforts to limit the investigation to the smallest scale possible. Originally assured the plume was confined to the old beryllium plant site, they later learned it had spread to 50 acres. Further drilling of wells expanded the plume to 131 acres, which produced demands for more test wells. Those results announced in April expanded it to 200 acres -- four times Lockheed's assurances of its size a year earlier. Now residents -- and Subra -- say that some private wells outside the boundaries currently drawn also show contamination but are not being considered by Lockheed.

We continue to advocate for all necessary testing of soil and water in the Tallevast area to ensure the scope of this plume is fully defined. It will do little good to approve a clean-up plan only to learn later there is additional pollution outside the parameters of the plan. That may limit Lockheed's liability exposure, but it will do little for the peace of mind of nearby property owners -- or for their property values.

For all of its efforts to build community trust, with a website, full-time community relations representative and newsletter, Lockheed undermines those efforts by not including residents in important planning decisions, such as a vapor testing program launched last month. This should not be an adversarial process -- not if the goal is complete and thorough clean-up of a toxic plume that represents a health hazard of unknown dimensions.

That must be the goal.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Fla.)

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