State accuses companies of illegal dumping on former Nielsen property in Dunedin

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has threatened a demolition and recycling company with a $10,000 fine for illegally dumping solid waste materials at the former Nielsen Media Research property.

A letter to Greenway Recycling Inc. and its sister demolition company, Sonny Glasbrenner Inc., says a Feb. 15 inspection determined the companies used roughly 180 cubic yards of ground-up construction and demolition debris to fill in low areas created when Glasbrenner demolished three buildings on the property at 375 Patricia Ave., off Scotsdale Street.

According to the DEP, the material did not pose a risk to human or environmental health. However, state rules say it should have gone to a landfill instead.

The owner of the two companies, F. Pate Clements, calls the incident an “honest mistake” by a new employee who loaded material from the wrong pile at the companies’ shared yard on 126th Avenue in Clearwater. Continue reading “”