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Raytheon Says 12 Private Wells Are Polluted
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Published: May 28, 2008
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ST. PETERSBURG At least 12 private irrigation wells near the Raytheon defense plant are polluted with industrial waste, the company said on a Web site it launched Wednesday.
Raytheon officials said 206 irrigation wells near its facility at 1501 72nd St. N. were tested after a News Channel 8 and Tampa Tribune investigation revealed that a toxic plume originating from the defense plant's site affected residents of the Azalea neighborhood.
According to the Web site launched Wednesday by Raytheon, those 12 polluted wells are not a health threat.
The state's Department of Environmental Protection has been advising residents to not use the private wells.
Raytheon will host a town hall meeting 7 p.m. Friday at the facility. At the meeting, environmental experts from the defense company and independent consultants will review the test results.
"We are completing a significant study and will share the findings with the community the day that we submit the report to the DEP," Raytheon senior site executive Mitch Lee said in a statement. "We see this as an important step in responding to our community's concerns and in demonstrating our long-term commitment to the St. Petersburg area."
Two state agencies will set up information booths at 6 p.m., but no television cameras will be allowed inside the facility. No cameras will be allowed at Raytheon's meeting as well.
On May 16, test results showed that eight wells in the Azalea neighborhood were tainted by the toxic plume.
Two wells tested April 29 and May 8 are in the 6900 block of 12th Avenue North and 16th Avenue North. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection sent notices to the two homeowners informing them their groundwater is polluted with industrial chemicals.
Six tainted wells, tested from April 14 to 17, are scattered to the south as far as Eighth Avenue and to the east of the Raytheon site on 72nd Street, according to a report in March by Arcadis, a third-party company hired by Raytheon to test irrigation wells in the west St. Petersburg neighborhood.
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