By RON MATUS
Sun staff writer
FORT WHITE - Florida environmental protection chief David Struhs
made it official Friday with the cool blue waters of Ichetucknee Springs
behind him and disappointed environmentalists in front:
A company notorious for repeated violations of environmental rules will
get a permit for a cement plant 3.5 miles from the river.
As expected, Struhs announced a settlement agreement with Anderson
Columbia Inc. and the affiliated company that wants to build the plant,
Suwannee American Cement.
It reverses the decision Struhs made five months ago to deny the
permit. In return, Anderson Columbia agreed to concessions, including
dropping a lawsuit against DEP and selling a limerock mine that some
say is a bigger threat to the river than the plant.
Taken as a whole, the settlement "is great news for the springs," Struhs
said.
"We will have more protection for Ichetucknee Springs, and Florida's
environment generally, than we would have ever imagined just a few
weeks ago," Struhs said after the news conference.
The settlement was announced in a clearing under live oaks at
Ichetucknee Springs State Park. About 20 Anderson Columbia
employees and 10 cement plant opponents were on hand, along with
other DEP officials.
Company officials called the settlement tough but fair, admitted past
mistakes and said they were committed to being better corporate
citizens.
Environmentalists said they felt betrayed.
"This is all smoke and mirrors," said Kathy Cantwell, a retired
Gainesville physician and Sierra Club member. "They may have made
some improvements with the plant, but the plant does not belong here."
The plant is not a done deal yet. Two legal challenges are scheduled for
the first week of December.
But if Suwannee American can clear those hurdles, the plant will be
producing cement in 2002, said project manager Frank Darabi.
Among other concessions, the company agreed to spend $1 million on
river studies, install more pollution controls and monitors and hold
special environmental training for employees.
"From now on, every employee - from the boardroom to the break
room - will know that environmental protection is part of our job, not
an interruption of it," said Anderson Columbia co-owner Joe Anderson
III in a prepared statement.
The $130 million plant will burn coal and used tires, produce 1 million
tons of cement each year and employ 80 people in south Suwannee
County, about 40 miles northwest of Gainesville.
Environmentalists cheered in June, when Struhs denied the company a
permit after canoeing the Ichetucknee with Gov. Jeb Bush.
Opponents say the plant will foul the river with mercury, nitrates and
other pollutants, and deter some of the 200,000 people who visit the
springs each year to ride inner tubes over crystal-clear waters.
DEP engineers said the plant will not pollute the river. But Struhs said
Anderson Columbia's environmental record was so bad it couldn't be
trusted to operate the plant.
Struhs said additional pollution controls and monitors now give DEP
"reasonable assurance."
The June decision was the first time DEP denied a permit because of a
company's record. Anderson Columbia has clashed repeatedly with
DEP regulators, especially in the Panhandle, where it does tens of
millions of dollars worth of road work each year.
Company officials said they were singled out arbitrarily so Bush and
Struhs could woo environmentalists. They said the company would win
in court because the laws regarding problem companies were so vague.
Struhs said Friday he was prepared to fight. But he said the
Ichetucknee is getting more protection from the settlement than it would
have from a DEP legal victory.
"If you look at the net benefits, we got more than we could have won in
court," Struhs said.
The biggest plank in the settlement is the mine sale.
The 350-acre quarry sits above an underground river channel that feeds
the Ichetucknee. For years, state officials have feared that dynamite
blasts on the site could unleash tons of sediment, or block the channel
entirely.
The Anderson family has agreed to sell the mine at 70 percent of its
appraised value, DEP officials said. The cost to the state may well be
in
the tens of millions of dollars, because the mine is believed to hold
another 30 years worth of mineable limerock.
Selling the mine was one of several concessions the company said it
wanted to make before its permit was denied. Opponents of the plant
said it doesn't make up for a cement plant near the river.
"It's meaningless," Cantwell said. "It's something that should have been
done - and would have been done - anyways."
Bush said the river benefited because DEP played hardball.
"There's no flip-flopping going on," he said before a prayer breakfast
in
Gainesville Friday. "There's major gains that wouldn't have been
achieved" had DEP not initially denied the permit, he said.
Since The Gainesville Sun reported Wednesday that a deal was in the
works, Bush's office has received dozens of phone calls and e-mails
from around the state. Virtually all of them have been critical.
"I am appalled that you would grant a permit to a company with a
horrible record of environmental offenses, no matter what concessions
are being made," wrote Cathy Pedevillano, a wildlife biologist.
But while environmentalists may be fuming, industry groups say the
administration did the right thing. They, too, have been watching the
cement plant issue closely. Struhs said he wanted to make it a
precedent.
"I think the secretary figured out in Florida we do things a little
different," said Randy Miller, vice president of Associated Industries,
the state's biggest business lobby. "You have to follow the laws. That's
both for the regulated and the regulator."
Struhs said DEP is moving forward with a more specific "bad actor"
rule that will allow the agency to deny permits to problem companies in
the future.
Ron Matus can be reached at (352) 374-5087 or
matusr@gvillesun.com.
Settlement terms
Here are some terms of the settlement announced Friday between the
state Department of Environmental Protection and Anderson Columbia
and related companies. In return for a permit for the cement plant, the
companies will:
Agree to sell a limerock mine four miles north of the Ichetucknee
River to the state for 70 percent of its expected appraised value.
The mine is now permitted for another 30 years and is
considered a major threat to the river.
Endow a $1 million trust fund dedicated to scientific research
and education on the Ichetucknee Springs and surrounding
environment. DEP and the Suwannee River Water Management
District will direct the fund.
Install a continuous pollution monitoring system that will be linked
to a Web site and allow 24-hour-a-day simultaneous public
access to the plant's environmental performance.
Resolve all five pending environmental enforcement cases against
them. Corrective actions must be completed before any new
environmental permits are issued.
Restore the environmental damage caused at a site on the
Blackwater River near Pensacola. Anderson Columbia operated
an asphalt plant there that was cited by DEP for numerous
violations.