TALLEVAST — Residents still dealing with fears of chemical contamination had fresh concerns Thursday as dust from a railroad construction project blew across this tiny community in southern Manatee.
High winds were blowing clouds of dust from construction work on the Seminole Gulf Railway tracks near Tallevast Road into the yards of nearby homes.
“They are working on the railroad that cuts through the center of the community,” said Clifford Ward, a community leader. “The landscape along the tracks was denuded, giving them access to the rails.”
Ward said the high winds were blowing sand from piles of dirt left at the site.
The National Weather Service reported winds were blowing at 14 mph Thursday, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
“The piles of dirt are not being covered,” he said. “The community doesn’t need these kinds of concerns.”
Ward was referring to the community’s health concerns about the effects from an underground plume of toxic waste beneath the town left from an old beryllium plant on Tallevast Road.
A woman who answered the phone at Seminole Gulf Railway said the work does not involve the company and hung up when asked if she knew who was doing the work.
No workers were at the site Thursday afternoon.
Staff at the Manatee County Building and Public Works departments said the railroads did not have to obtain permits to do work in their right of way.
No one at the county Natural Resources Department returned a telephone message about any violation of county environmental codes.
A telephone message left with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection also went unreturned.
Gary Cambre, a spokesman with Lockheed Martin, the company that purchased the beryllium plant and is now responsible for mitigating the toxic waste damage, said the company hoped to alleviate any fears in the community.
“Extensive environmental testing in Tallevast shows there is no risk of exposure to contaminants related to the former American Beryllium Company site.” Cambre said.
“There is no pathway for the community to be exposed to this contamination in a way that creates any credible human health risk. Soil sampling and air monitoring have verified these findings.”
