Raytheon cleanup could take 25 years, cost $46 million

Raytheon predicts it will take millions of dollars and decades of work to clean up the water-borne plume of cancer-causing chemicals beneath its St. Petersburg defense plant and the neighborhoods surrounding it.

A new 2,290-page report calls for creating a network of 11 recovery wells around nearby homes and parks, all connected by a pipeline to a central treatment site at Raytheon's now-vacant plant, 1501 72nd St. N.

Industrial waste containing 1,4 dioxane, trichloroethene, vinyl chloride and other toxic chemicals has been spreading under the Azalea neighborhood and surrounding areas since 1999, according to records filed with the state Department of Environmental Protection.

State regulators first discovered the pollution in 1991, when E-Systems owned the property. Little has been done to clean up the chemicals since Raytheon purchased the site in 1995.

According to documents released this week by the DEP, Raytheon would drain the tainted water, treat it at a processing center on Raytheon's property and recycle it through the city of St. Petersburg's wastewater treatment system.

The wells and pipelines would be buried. Each well would be powered by a 1 horsepower electrical engine.

The thought of tearing up the neighborhood to install pumps and pipelines might annoy homeowners, but at least they're not going to pay for it. Raytheon would foot the bill.

And the process won't be quick or cheap.

"Although the duration of the remedy is difficult to predict, it is expected that the remedy will operate 25 years or longer," the Raytheon proposal said.

Raytheon and its consultant provided some cost estimates: $15 million for construction on the plant site; $6 million to build the system of wells, pipelines and cleanup station; and $1 million each year for maintenance and operation.

Ned Mc Williams, one of a team of lawyers that has filed a class action lawsuit against Raytheon, said most of the treatment plan would be unnecessary if Raytheon and the DEP had acted sooner to contain the spread of the pollution.

It now extends half a mile or more beyond the plant.

"Now the residents and Raytheon are going to have to deal with the consequences," McWilliams said.

Raytheon's cleanup proposal needs DEP approval before any work can begin. DEP regulators have just begun reviewing it and had no comment.