Florida Agency Investigates Scrap Recycler

After a fire burned several boats, dozens of cars and more than 100 tires at a metal and recycling yard last year, environmental investigators made frequent visits to the business.

They looked at the contents of Hobbs Metals & Recycling, including refrigerators with the doors attached, 55-gallon drums of a hazardous waste and a "substantial amount" of petroleum-stained soil, according to a sworn statement by a Department of Environmental Protection investigator.

They also saw a torch flame being used within about 15 feet of a tire pile, which is a violation of a Florida statute, according to the report.

The company has violated numerous state statutes, including those regulating the disposal and storage of hazardous wastes, the discharge of pollutants and the storage of refrigerators, stated Dana Chianella, an investigator with DEP, in a search warrant affidavit.

Carl Hobbs, son of owner Clarence Hobbs, declined to comment Monday.

Chianella could not be reached Monday, and it was unclear what kind of punishment Hobbs could face. Several of the statutes she said the company is violating are punishable by fines and jail time.

Drums labeled as sodium hydrosulfite and plexichrome paint -- two hazardous wastes -- were stored on the property, investigators found. Computer monitors and accessories -- which may be hazardous wastes -- also were kept there, along with automobile batteries that were not protected from the weather, the DEP found.

Clarence Hobbs acknowledged that auto crushing occurs on the property in a place where inspectors found petroleum stains on the concrete, according to Chianella's statement. She also said she saw dead plants near a tire storage area where she noticed a petroleum odor.

The inspectors began looking at the company after a fire tore through the property in October. It was caused by a spark that drifted from wood burning in a barrel to some old boats and cars. A thick layer of black smoke blanketed the town and could be seen from the beach in Clearwater.

Once Tarpon Springs Fire Rescue determined that the fire hazards were abated, officials turned over the case to the DEP, Fire Marshal Rick Butcher said Monday.

A DEP supervisor instructed Clarence Hobbs to perform soil and groundwater assessments after the fire, but he had not done so as of July 6, Chianella said in her statement. Soil contamination is still evident on the property, in violation of a state statute regulating the discharge of pollutants, she said. St. Petersburg Times.