TAMPA, Fla. — Residents living near the Sydney Ponds superfund site in Dover will meet on Thursday, in advance of a county commission vote for a text amendment change to the site plan approved 15 years ago. 

At issue is leftover pollution from the superfund site that the county and a resident group have identified through testing.

What You Need To Know

  • The Sydney Ponds superfund site is a small pocket of land located in Dover, inside 1,500 acres of land a developer wants to build on

  • Residents say pollution leftover from Phosphate mining poses a danger to nearby homeowners and businesses 

  • County documents show independent environmental tests near the site do not show dangerous levels of pollution

  • Residents are meeting Thursday night in advance of a county commission vote next week to change the site plan amendment

According to the EPA, the site, located in Brandon, includes an area mined for phosphate ore from the 1930s through the 1950s, and later used as a liquid waste disposal facility until 1981. The area is near State Road 60 and South Dover Road. 

When the site plan was approved to expand the county’s Urban Service Area in 2010, it included all 3,000 acres of land.

But the property now has two owners, both of which want different things.

A cattle rancher that owns half of the 3,000 acres has no plans to develop the land, but the owner of the other 1,500 acres wants to move forward with a solar energy plant, commercial and warehouse space, and potentially new homes.

In order for development to move forward, the county must first split the property in two in the amendment.

Despite the site plan being approved 15 years ago, dozens of residents have come forward voicing concerns about how development could impact nearby neighborhoods.

Josie Gentry lives a mile away from the site.

Using her own Geiger meter to read radiation levels in phosphate tailings she says were left behind from phosphate mining in the 1960s, Gentry said the site could pose health risks to not just the people that would populate the site, but also for nearby neighborhoods that could be susceptible to stormwater run-off.

“This sludge pond alone has 18, more than 18 million gallons of toxic materials that were dumped by our own county,” said Gentry. “Our own county allowed them to dump all of this toxic waste here, and now you want to build homes on it?”

According to EPA records, the Sydney Ponds superfund site only takes up a small portion of the 1,500 acres the developer wants to build on.

And on that small pocket of land, the EPA would not allow any development to happen.

County Commissioner Joshua Wostal says the county vote, set for next week, isn’t to approve any digging on the site, rather allow for the process of development to continue.

“They’d have to go through a rezone, they’d have to go through a permit before they are ever allowed to touch any dirt,” said Wostal. “They will be required to test all soil before they excavate any land. Everyone would be fully protected throughout this process.”

Wostal said Hillsborough County has the most stringent environmental guidelines of any county in the state, and any development would not just need to pass EPA approval, but also the approval of Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Committee.

It will likely take years and a multistep approval process before any construction happens on the property.

In a statement earlier this year, an attorney for the developer said, “The property owners do not have any immediate plans to develop the property. That said, when that point in time arrives, we will be inclusive and open to dialogue and input from our neighbors, concerned citizens, and other community members.”

Commissioners are set to vote on the text amendment changes at next week’s regular BOCC meeting.