Developers plan new warehouses near Tallevast. Will it affect groundwater cleanup?
A developer is seeking to rezone a 300-acre parcel in the Tallevast neighborhood, which has local residents concerned about the site’s groundwater contamination.
The area is set to become a multi-tenant facility for warehouses and assembly, according to Steve Racine, co-founder of the Tampa-based Peak Development, LLC, looking to develop the vacant land. But residents say they have concerns, especially considering the site’s proximity to contamination connected to the former American Beryllium plant in Tallevast.
More than 50 residents in Tallevast, a historically Black neighborhood, signed a petition against the rezone. The Manatee Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the rezone, paving the way for light industrial development. Commissioners Vanessa Baugh, Stephen Jonsson and Carol Whitmore were not present for Thursday evening’s vote.
The Lockheed Martin Corp., a national defense contractor, is still actively cleaning the site, and any development on the land needs to follow the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s guidelines. In this case, that means developers won’t be allowed to dig 20 feet below ground so that they avoid the plume.
“We understand what is going on with this plume,” said Caleb Grimes, an attorney representing Peak Development. “It is being remediated. It is something that the agencies are overseeing.”
The site at 2400 Tallevast Road is near the location where officials discovered a chemical spill linked to the former American Beryllium Company in 2000.
According to Paul Calligan, an environmental remediation official with Lockheed Martin, the site’s contamination poses “very little risk” to the proposed development and the company will continue cleaning the spill, he wrote in a Sep. 23 letter.
“We recognize this has been a horrendous problem to our neighbors. We feel badly for them, but we’re coming into it and we have to deal with it just like they do,” Grimes added.
As part of the rezone approval, the county is requiring Peak Development to coordinate with Lockheed-Martin to ensure the development does not impact groundwater treatment activity.
Racine is not yet seeking a general development plan, so he did not provide specific details about how many buildings would be constructed on the site. He noted, however, that the project will be developed in phases.
“I want to make sure that the people of Tallevast are protected,” said Commissioner Misty Servia, who represents the area.
“If you look at it, it’s bullseye — the project is right underneath the neighborhood. Their concern is, I’m sure with any development, whatever it is, they don’t want it disturbed and they don’t want to deal with it again,” said Commissioner Betsy Benac, who noted that the spill isn’t under the county’s jurisdiction.
Groundwater remediation has been ongoing since 2014, but it will be several decades before the site is entirely cleaned, according to county staff.
One of the major benefits of the project, Racine said, is the potential for several new jobs. One of the site’s tenants will be an e-commerce user that is the “first of its kind in the area.”
“Right now we are in economic recovery mode and what they propose to do on this site will certainly be a job creator for our community,” said Sharon Hillstrom, president and CEO of the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corp., who spoke in support of the project.
Expressing concern about the county’s recent efforts to support residents, commissioners have requested an updated report of the county’s neighborhood efforts in the Tallevast area.
