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No More Chances For Mall Project

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 11, 2008

Repeated environmental violations at the site of the 1.3-million-square-foot Cypress Creek Town Center project in Wesley Chapel shows what happens when government regulators rely on assurances by developers, instead of laying down the law before land is cleared.

This fox-guarding-the-henhouse approach is making a mockery of a process that is supposed to guard against polluting Cypress Creek, a state-designated Outstanding Florida Water that feeds the Hillsborough River, Tampa's primary source of drinking water.

Since last fall, Pasco County, state water managers and federal regulators have cited the developers, the Jacobs Group and Sierra Properties, at least 16 times for poor erosion control and allowing runoff to pollute the creek in violation of permits.

Yet work continues, with the developers, who blame heavy rains, only being fined and facing the threat of additional monetary sanctions - action that is nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

Last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, whose permit cleared the way for the developers to fill 54 acres of wetlands, finally decided to get tough and suspended the permit. But the action was too late because the wetlands already had been destroyed.

The action means only that the developers cannot build on the 54 acres in question unless better stormwater and other runoff measures are put into place. This is insufficient punishment considering the history of violations and size of the overall site - 500 acres.

At a minimum, the corps should order the developers to restore the damaged wetlands. If that means reconfiguring the project, so be it.

The developers aren't solely to blame. Government officials and regulators, despite the sanctions they've imposed, should never have fallen for the developers' assurances that the runoff would be contained on site and, especially, for the absurd belief that a system of hay bales would help do the trick.

Somebody from either Pasco County government, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, the Army Corps or the Florida Department of Environmental Protection needs to take a much stronger stand to prevent further pollution of Cypress Creek. The integrity of the environmental regulatory process - and Tampa's drinking water - demands it.

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