Hazardous Wastes 



Hazardous wastes are a problem in Florida largely because of their direct 

 effects on highly valued aquatic ecosystems and groundwater aquifers. High 

 porous sandy soils rapidly transport surface waters (some of it contaminated) 

 into the aquifer and, consequently, create serious problems for the disposal 

 and treatment of hazardous wastes. Several of these problems have had far 

 reaching effects. 



Frequent oil spills along the St. Marks River and in its port waters 

 caused an annual loss of $328,000 to the sport and commercial fishery (Bell 

 1981). Another analysis showed that heavy metals and sulfuric acid from a 

 battery reclamation facility caused $6 million in damage to the environment, 

 including the cost of reclamation. In addition, freshwater fishery losses 

 were extensive in Dry Creek, Chipola River, and Gulf County Dead Lakes area 

 (Lynch 1981), and possibly as far downstream as Apalachicola Bay. 



The cost of pollution of groundwater has not been estimated, but fresh- 

 water wells near the sources of contamination contained heavy metal and 

 organic concentrations above EPA standards. 



A number of hazardous waste incidents in Florida have been identified 

 (Florida State Department of Environmental Regulations (1980b). The most 

 serious incidents were groundwater contamination by a reclamation operation, 

 disposal of infectious wastes, oil spills, and pesticide/oil mixture contami- 

 nation. Some of the details are given in the following subsections. 



Pesticide/oil spill . A pesticide/oil mixture contaminated the Orange 

 River in 1977, when Lee County mosquito control personnel spilled about 500 

 gal of oil, water, and pesticides (Baytex, Cythion, Malathion) into a ditch 

 that later was flushed into the Orange River by heavy rains. Some fish were 

 killed and about $15,000 was spent for cleanup. (Refer to the Data Appendix, 

 Table EIR 3 for additional information.) 



Fish kill, Exxon Co., Lehigh Acres, Lee County . In 1976, a leak devel- 

 oped in a pipeline serving an oil well on Exxon property at Lehigh Acres and 

 some of the fluid drained into a canal. In the cleanup, an estimated 23,400 

 gal of oil and water mixture were recovered; the 1,400 gal not recovered 

 flowed into the canals adjacent to Lehigh Acres. More than 3,000 fish were 

 killed, and the invertebrate population and aquatic vegetation in the canals 

 were contaminated. The cost of cleanup was $47,000; the fines and damages 

 exceeded $14,000. 



Oil spill in Tampa Bay . In 1977, an oil-carrying barge collided with the 

 Tampa Electric Co. dock and was badly damaged. The barge leaked about 110,000 

 gal of light diesel fuel into Sparkman Channel in Tampa Bay. Many injured and 

 dead waterfowl, predominantly ducks, of which more than 65 were dead and 

 approximately 30 were coated with oil, were counted. Other injuries to 

 aquatic life were apparent in the marshes but they were not counted. Cleanup 

 costs exceeded $100,000 and penalties could reach $55,000. 



Florida Keys oil spill . In July 1975, possibly as much as 120,000 gal of 

 crude oil was discharged from a tanker carrying fuel oil when it cleaned its 

 tanks off of the Florida Keys coast. Incalculable damage was done to exten- 



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