FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 15, 2014
NEW AGREEMENT REACHED TO STREAMLINE JACKSONVILLE PORT CLEANUPS
~The first of its kind, the JAXPORT agreement serves as a model for other ports in Florida~
JACKSONVILLE –The
Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Jacksonville Port
Authority have achieved an important milestone in an agreement to ensure environmental
protection is conducted in a more streamlined manner and that it is compatible
with port business, without a reduction in the levels of protection to human
health and the environment.
A
memorandum of agreement between the Department and JAXPORT establishes that the
cleanup level to be achieved for contaminated parcels at the Talleyrand Marine Terminal will be
based on commercial and industrial land use. It will facilitate the cleanup and
management of existing contamination without hindering port expansion,
increased commerce or economic growth.
“This
agreement can serve as a model for the Department’s work with all of Florida’s ports
as a way to address environmental issues while supporting the importance of
ports to our state’s economy,” said Jeff Littlejohn, Florida Department of
Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary for Regulatory Programs. “The
Department appreciates JAXPORT’s collaborative approach to solving environmental
issues.”
The
agreement provides for binding land use controls that ensure protection under
the current land use, as well as compliance with environmental regulations. This agreement will enable JAXPORT to expeditiously reduce or eliminate the risk of exposure to users and occupants of JAXPORT property and the environment to contaminants and to reduce or eliminate the threat of migration of the contaminants.
With this agreement in place, JAXPORT has predictable and consistent goals for
any environmental cleanup on site. Typically, land use decisions are one of the
last steps taken to close out a contaminated site and the process can take
several months to complete. By having
this agreement already in place, JAXPORT will be able to efficiently close
sites without administrative delays.
“I thank the FDEP leadership for
diligently working with the larger community on ways to maintain regulatory
standards to the fullest, while allowing for the efficiency and
effectiveness that the speed of business today requires,” said JAXPORT CEO
Brian Taylor.
The agreement streamlines the cleanup process by
using one legally recorded restriction for the entire port and also eliminates
the need to impose restriction on a parcel-by-parcel basis as has historically
been done. Future title work will be subject to the agreement and as cleanups
are completed, the already recorded agreement will be referenced in the Site
Rehabilitation Completion Order with Conditions. The Department anticipates
that other ports and airports may soon implement similar agreements.
“The
relationship the Department and JAXPORT has forged will allow for improved
environmental protection throughout the Talleyrand Marine Terminal,” said Jorge
Caspary, DEP Division of Waste Management Director. “This agreement allows the
Department and JAXPORT to address contamination more efficiently than in the
past.”
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