[CPEO-BIF] Miami FL Luxury Condos constructed on former Superfund landfill

["Robert Hersh" <b_hersh@verizon.net>]

Condo tries to bury its past life as a dump

Miami Herald
June 16, 2007

BY CURTIS MORGAN AND AMY DRISCOLL

By location alone, Biscayne Landing seems a developer's dream. Nearly 200
open, bayside acres. Sweeping ocean views. State park on one side,
university campus on the other. Close to downtown Miami and the glamour of
South Beach. Except it's on top of a dump.

Biscayne Landing's high-end condos and shops are rising atop the old
Munisport landfill, which spent 17 years on the list of the nation's most
polluted places. Now the first trickle of a projected 15,000 people are
moving into what ranks as one of the largest residential projects ever
planned on a former Superfund site.

...The Environmental Protection Agency decided in 1999 that the site was
safe for habitation after years of tests and studies -- though living there
still comes with reminders of the past. There are rules against digging more
than two feet into the soil, for instance, and condo salespeople have been
schooled to allay the concerns of hesitant prospects.

... But some neighbors and activists have never been satisfied with
government assurances or investigations.''Everyone who says it has a clean
bill of health is bypassing the main issue, which is, no one really knows.
There was round-the-clock dumping at a time when nobody was watching,'' said
Maureen Harwitz, a North Miami resident who became a lawyer to help fight
what proved a losing battle against the EPA delisting the site. ``There's a
giant question mark on the property.''

For the entire article, see:
http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/141719.html

Bob


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