When he moved to Gainesville’s Stephen Foster neighborhood in 2008, Robert Pearce just wanted to live on a creek. He didn’t know that it would lead to his involvement in the cleanup of a hazardous waste site.
The 73-year-old resident later became the president of the Stephen Foster Neighborhood Association, advocating for remedial efforts in the Springstead Creek. He said he discovered the environmental issues involved more than just the creek.
“I couldn’t believe some of the stuff I was seeing,” said Pearce.He said he didn’t know about the poor environmental conditions before moving in almost 20 years ago.
He said he initially shared the anger and disappointment of the neighborhood. Though he said building a positive relationship with officials was the most productive way to make change in his community.
His home is only a few miles away from the Cabot Koppers Superfund site on Main Street and NW 23rd Ave. The Environmental Protection Agency designated this area because of high contamination.
The Environmental Protection Agency releases a Five-Year-Review plan, essentially a status report on the site’s cleanup progress gathered every five years. The last report was released in 2021. This year will be the most recent report, which is currently underway.
The Environmental Protection Agency declined to answer specific questions about the upcoming five-year review. It provided a statement instead that noted such reviews are mandatory by law.
Cleanup for the Cabot-Koppers Superfund site began in the 1990s. The companies responsible continue to work at removing toxic contaminants from the site and the surrounding Stephen Foster neighborhood. Pearce said these hazardous chemicals could potentially jeopardize the health of 5,114 residents and the environment.
The superfund site includes two properties. The Cabot Corporations site: a pine tar plant on the east side of Main Street and NW 23rd Avenue. The other was a wood and charcoal-preserving facility operated by Koppers Inc. The facility activity began as early as the 1900s and lasted over a century. Koppers ended operations in 2010.
Harmful chemicals like mercury, lead and arsenic were found in the soil, groundwater and air. Over 50 years ago, the Springstead Creek experienced a catastrophe, Pearce said, when contaminated sludge from the facilities was released into the unlined ponds. Neither Cabot Corporation or Koppers Inc. practiced proper wastewater management.
The contaminants worked their way down to Hogtown Creek, about a mile downstream from Springstead, which killed off most of the ecosystem. The harmful chemicals like arsenic, lead and mercury seeped into the air, soil and groundwater according to the EPA .
According to the EPA’s superfund site website, the main contaminants are carcinogens. These substances or agents are capable of causing cancer.
“I have seen various wildlife one would not expect in a relatively urban environment,” said Pearce. He said he has encountered one otter, one fox, one coyote but primarily birds and raccoons. There were clear signs of the ecosystem’s disruption.
Remedial efforts at the Cabot site were completed in 2020, now covered by a shopping center and parking lot. But the cleanup for the Koppers site continues.
In an email to WUFT, global communications manager at Cabot Corporations Emily Moran issued a statement that there are no new developments to report since a year ago. Moran said “We continue to cooperate fully with regulatory agencies as they manage the long‑term oversight of the site.”
The Koppers site remains in the monitoring phase, as it was last year, due to negotiations. The Florida Department of Transportation and Beazer East, formerly known as Koppers, have faced a deadlock disagreement about relocating a stormwater drainage ditch that empties into Springstead Creek.
Alachua County program director Ted Goodman says they are very close to signing the agreement and the parties involved have agreed on a new location for the ditch. Goodman also said they have agreed on long term maintenance of the facility.
Goodman said he understands toxic waste sites take a long time to clean up because of these delays.“They are just slow to progress,” said Goodman.
Because of the size, complexity and nature of the contaminants that are often involved, he said remedial work can take a long time.
Over the years monitoring the Koppers site, Goodman and Pearce said they have developed a positive working relationship. Goodman said this site was unique in its progress because usually property owners are left waiting years or decades for the cleanup to reach them. The opposite occurred with the Stephen Foster neighborhood.
“Now we have this feeling of a common goal,” said Goodman. “It’s not adversarial, it’s open lines of communication, it’s feedback taken and feedback being responded to.”
He said the current property owners are happy with the work that has been done to clean up their homes and in their properties, replacing toxic soil and surface water.
The Cabot site as part of its remedial efforts installed an underground containment system, designed to control and isolate impacted soil. This site is in the care and maintenance phase and the systems in place are functioning as intended, said Moran.
Once it settles negotiations, the Koppers site will begin the final step of the remedial efforts. It plans to install walls around the groundwater contamination area to prevent contaminated groundwater from spreading further.
Goodman says to think of this wall as a bucket and the goal is to make sure it doesn’t overflow. Their plans are to put a cap above this wall. He said they are hopeful to begin construction later this year.