The infamous history of the Saufley Landfill shows the worse that can happen after a hurricane. Three businesses do well after a hurricane demolition/clean-up companies, haulers and debris landfills. Saufley Landfill is one such landfill. It was bought by a Louisiana company. which made tons of money accepting all sorts of debris, but didn’t properly maintain the site. Neighbors of the West Pensacola landfill fought for years to shut it down after a fire there focused attention on the dump. Neighbors considered the operation an eyesore and health threat. Florida DEP took the landfill operators, Louisiana Investment Group LLC, to court because of the fires and the huge mounds of debris. The judge gave them 60 days to comply. The LIG never complied and the owner was eventually arrested.
To stay out of jail, the CEO, Brendan Vinet, had to agree to cover the waste with dirt. A local company, TAT Enterprises, did the work and accrued over $500,000 in charges. Vinet never paid TAT.
Fast-forward to 2009, the Escambia County opens negotiations with Vinet to acquire the property and convert it into a community park (cost $6 million). Vinet gets off of paying any DEP fines and any of the liens against the property.
TAT Enterprises doesn’t have a lien so it could lose its money. The company tries to a get a judgment against LIG & Vinet to establish a lien before the county closes on the property. LIG/Vinet blocked the lawsuit and delayed the court hearing.
Finally last week, TAT and LIG reached an agreement and a judgment was placed on the property for $300K. The Escambia County Commission had it on its agenda for Thursday, Feb. 18. TAT’s attorney, John Asmar, had the judgment filed before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17 and the judgment was added to the commissioners’ packets for the meeting.
However, when the acquisition of Saufley Landfill was voted on by the BCC and the listed lienholders were approved to paid, the staff recommendation wasn’t amended to include TAT Enterprises. TAT is left with having to sue the County for payment, unless the County delays the closing until the BCC and adds the TAT lien to the agreement.
Asmar told me before lunch that the asst. County Attorney Steve West hasn’t returned his calls and, according to his client, the county commissioners have been instructed to not talk to them about the issue….which is unusual since there is no pending litigation and the acquisition has already been approved. There is nothing on the agenda for TAT.
Other blog posts:
Escambia County – Landfill Capitol
Outlaw private landfills
Landfill stays open
Landfill finally fined
Landfill lessons