Daytona Beach Searches for Responsible Parties to Cleanup Contamination

By Duane Craig

Daytona Beach has a mystery contamination? Who is responsible?

The City of Daytona Beach is not quite sure when it bought a contaminated property close to the intersection of Clyde Morris Boulevard and Bellevue Avenue but it is pulling out all stops to discover the history of the 3.5 acre parcel, according to an article in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

The samplings of groundwater taken in 2003 revealed contamination that today appears as a tar-like substance on the surface of the soil. There is some speculation the substance is the leftovers from coal gassification activities undertaken there to create the gas for driving electricity-producing generators. The property was apparently once owned by the city and then by the school district, but the city bought it back in 2003. The land was also once used as a city landfill.

The city also considered getting the property listed on the Superfund list, but that was decided against because of the restrictions placed on those properties once they are cleaned up.

City officials voted to hire an insurance investigator who specializes in insurance archaeology to find out the past owners. The idea is the city could then go after those owners to pay for the nearly $10 million cleanup. No one is exempt from being named a potentially responsible party, even the city itself, or rather former city government insurors. Once cleaned up the parcel could then be developed.

Read the story, here.