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State Officials Meet With St. Pete Residents Affected By Raytheon Pollution

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By RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 5, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG A week after test results showed that at least six private irrigation wells in the Azalea neighborhood are contaminated with industrial waste from the Raytheon defense plant, officials with the state's Department of Environmental Protection met with residents to hear their concerns.

Homeowners said that they feel DEP officials do not have their best interests in mind.

Grover Griffin shared his fear about contamination to fields that neighborhood children play on.

"All these kids out here are someone's grandchildren," Griffin said.

DEP officials did not bring much to the table at today's 5 p.m. meeting, other than to say that they were waiting for Raytheon's report on the contamination, Griffin said.

On Tuesday, an independent engineering firm tested 39 out of 63 irrigation wells. Of those 39, at least six tested positive for the presence of chemicals such as 1,4-Dioxane and vinyl chloride, according to a report sent to affected homeowners by Gus Suarez, project manager of the firm Arcadis.

Deborah Getzoff, DEP's district director, asked residents Tuesday to avoid using the wells.

"Please use municipal water for irrigation purposes until further notice," Getzoff said.

The tainted wells are scattered to the south as far as Eighth Avenue and to the east of the Raytheon site on 72nd Street, according to Suarez's report.

One well on Eighth Avenue shows 20 parts per billion of 1,4-Dioxane in the water, a concentration exceeding the DEP's drinking water standard for that chemical of 3.2 parts per billion, Suarez reported.

The chemicals have been associated with cancer and other illnesses, according to two class-action lawsuits filed last month by Azalea residents against Raytheon Corp.

Joe Saunders, a Pinellas County attorney who filed one lawsuit April 14, said he wants Raytheon, which inherited the problem when it bought the site, to pay for the medical screening of residents. Saunders said the stigma of contamination already has diminished property values.

The second lawsuit calls for Raytheon to administer medical monitoring, clean up the property and compensate affected residents for the loss in property value.

Azalea residents filed the lawsuits against the defense contractor after a News Channel 8 and Tampa Tribune investigation in March revealed that a toxic plume infiltrated groundwater in the neighborhood.

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