Aug 20, 2005

State Works To Clean Up Contaminants

PORT TAMPA - The state is working with a property owner to clean up lead contamination on an 11-acre commercial site on South West Shore Boulevard.

The site, at 6608 S. West Shore Blvd., is the former home of the Wenczel Tile manufacturing plant. John McCrocklin, a West Palm Beach real estate tax lawyer, said he bought the site in May 2004 after working for two years to purchase it through bankruptcy court.

He said the contamination was caused by using lead glazes on tiles and has been housed in an approximately 6-foot-wide concrete compound. The state Department of Environmental Protection had Wenczel place the contaminants in the compound in the 1980s.

McCrocklin said Wenczel operated the manufacturing plant from the 1960s until it declared bankruptcy in 1993.

Soil tests on 26 areas around the property showed no other contamination. DEP spokeswoman Pam Vazquez said the state is working with McCrocklin on a cleanup plan.

"It's a very doable cleanup," she said. "Wherever you have industry, you have situations dealing with pollutants."

McCrocklin said the property is not for sale but he has heard from real estate agents and developers. He said he has heard rumors about the site's future, including a possible grocery store.

The property is zoned industrial general, he said, but the land use would allow for up to 270 residences to be built there.

With many residences being built along West Shore, the area south of Gandy Boulevard needs more than convenience stores, Port Tampa resident Tom Vento said.

"I think there's an opportunity for commercial business in there," Vento said. "It would help revitalize the area."

McCrocklin said he is impressed by the signs of revitalization along West Shore.

"West Shore's obviously changing a lot," he said. "It's turning out to be a very nice place."