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3 Charged In Dumping Of Asbestos In Green Swamp Wetlands

Photo courtesy of the Polk County Sheriff's Office

Part of the wetlands where authorities say solid waste was dumped illegally.

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TBO.com

Published: September 12, 2008

Updated: 09/12/2008 01:11 pm

  Ronnie Lee Spears

  Warren Gregory Gay

  Thomas C. Barnhill

WINTER HAVEN - Three men were arrested today in the dumping of asbestos tiles and other construction trash at a wetlands area north of Auburndale.

At least 43 large container loads of construction debris were dumped from July 3 to 23 by employees of Florida Environmental Compliance Corp., Polk County sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Eleazer said.

The material came from the tear-down of old dormitories at Florida Southern College in Lakeland. It was dumped on private property in an area protected under state law as part of the Green Swamp wetlands.

The Green Swamp, 870 square miles of marshland and forests, is the source of the Hillsborough River and much of the Tampa Bay area's drinking water supply.

Florida Environmental Compliance's owners apparently were unaware of the actions of their employees, sheriff's investigators said, and have cooperated in the investigation and the cleanup.

Investigators gave this account of the case:

The company's operations manager in Winter Haven, Ronnie Lee Spears Jr., 35, of Bartow, instructed an employee to find a place to dump the asbestos to save on the cost of disposing of it legally. The move saved an estimated $10,540.

Spears faces 43 felony counts of dumping for commercial purposes.

Authorities say Spears worked with Warren Gregory Gay for the debris to be dumped on property Gay owns. Gay arranged to have the debris dumped without a permit on land he owns within the Green Swap wetlands area. The debris was to be used there as part of a road bed.

Gay, 58, of Winter Haven faces misdemeanor charges of storage of solid waste without a permit, failure to comply with an environmental rule.

The Florida Environmental Compliance employee who arranged for the dumping is truck driver Thomas C. Barnhill, 44, of Lake Wales, who faces three counts of felony dumping for commercial purposes.

Barnhill is an acquaintance of Gay's.

The sheriff's office and state Department of Environmental Protection began investigating Aug. 20, when a tip was called in to the Florida Environmental Crime Reporting Line, 1-877-272-8335.

The dump area is between Lake Mattie and Lake Van, off Lake Mattie Road.

After the discovery of the illegal dumping, Florida Environmental Compliance has removed all the debris from the site, has disposed of it properly and is in the process of restoring the wetlands area, sheriff's investigators said.

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