Citrus County surprised with shipment of arsenic-tainted sludge

Citrus County residents and officials say they are surprised that arsenic-tainted sludge was brought to their county and they aren’t sure what’s being done with it.

Officials for Citrus County say they were unaware sludge from Dunbar South Street in Fort Myers was headed to their county for processing.

“We were first made aware of this by a news article that a press rep sent to us,” said Randy Oliver, a Citrus County Administrator.

“We were a bit surprised that nobody had said anything to us, which prompted us to send a letter to Florida Department of Environmental Protection for more info,” said Oliver.

The County Administrator sent a letter to the Florida DEP yesterday after finding out last week the city’s plan is to ship sludge to a Crystal River facility for treatment.

“We don’t know the process, is it going to mix with something else and then barged to Alabama? There’s just too many unknowns to us,” said Oliver.

The City of Fort Myers would only say per the contract, PPM sub-contractor will take ownership of the sludge at the time it leaves the site.

The Department of Environmental Protection said they haven’t been given the disposal plan to review yet, and until they do, they can’t determine the requirements.