FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 14, 2014
LETTER FROM DEP SECRETARY HERSCHEL T. VINYARD JR. TO COLLIER RESOURCES, BARRON COLLIER COMPANIES AND COLLIER ENTERPRISES
TO: Interested Media
FROM: Tiffany Cowie, DEP Press Secretary
RE: DEP Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard Jr.'s Letter
Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard Jr. issued a letter today to Collier Resources, Barron Collier Companies and Collier Enterprises. Below is a copy of that letter. Feel free to reach out if you need further information.
July 14, 2014
Mr. Tom Jones
Senior Vice President
Collier Resources
2600 Golden Gate Parkway
Naples, Florida 34105-3227
Mr. Blake Gable
Barron Collier Companies
2600 Golden Gate Parkway
Naples, Florida 34105
Mr. Tom Flood
Collier Enterprises
2550 Goodlette Road North, Suite 100
Naples, Florida 34103
Dear Mr. Jones, Mr. Gable and Mr. Flood:
As you know, I sent a letter on July 3, 2014, with a list of demands for the Dan A. Hughes Company to meet by July 15 to increase transparency and address the numerous unanswered concerns about activities at the Collier-Hogan well.
As Collier Resources stands to benefit financially from the Dan A. Hughes Company’s activities on your property, we asked you to work with Collier County and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida to develop long-term groundwater monitoring strategies, based on sound science, to ensure the safety of current and future operations. We also instructed you to exclusively fund the implementation of these strategies.
I was happy to read in your June 12, 2014, letter to the Collier County Commission that you were volunteering to pay for tests at the Collier-Hogan well site to help address public concerns. You went on to underscore the fact that you wish to remain responsible actors as long-term Collier County residents.
We are concerned you have not provided any of those sampling results to DEP despite the fact that your commitment was made more than a month ago. DEP initiated its own groundwater monitoring studies and has already made those results public.
As the site owners in this case, I also want you to be aware that Dan A. Hughes has cancelled its previously scheduled media tour at the site. DEP remains committed to pushing the company to allow media access to the site in an effort to keep all operations transparent. Cancelling the tour is a step backward.
I look forward to your immediate response.
Sincerely,
 Herschel T. Vinyard Jr.
Secretary
cc: Chairman Tom Henning
Commissioner Fred W. Coyle
Commissioner Donna Fiala
Commissioner Georgia Hiller
Commissioner Tim Nance
County Manager Leo Ochs
County Attorney Jeff Klatzkow
Collier County Water-Sewer District
Thomas G. Mosher
Matthew Schwartz
Preserve Our Paradise
Conservancy of Southwest Florida
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