The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has required a construction company to clean up asbestos chunks it failed to properly clean up on a 70-acre site located near Alico Road and U.S. 41.
Posen Construction, a Michigan-based company, met with officials of the Florida DEP this Wednesday to discuss the issue. The asbestos was discovered in late November when environmental officials came to inspect the site. According to a spokesman for the environmental protection organization, Posen was compliant and very willing to begin the cleaning project.
The original construction project was one the Florida Department of Transportation contracted Posen Construction for to widen Alico Road from two to six lanes in the high traffic area between U.S. 41 and Dusty Road. The $15 million project was completed in June.
The company agreed to properly clean up the site it used to dispose of fill such as rock and concrete. It recently moved 600 linear feet of asbestos to a landfill approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to receive asbestos. Posen also grouted an additional 280 linear feet of asbestos pipes. Grouting, or filling the pipes, with concrete is an acceptable and approved way of dealing with asbestos by preventing it from being crushed and placed underground.
The Florida DEP is planning to inspect the project and ensure that clean up was done properly in the near future. In the mean time, Posen Construction has already been awarded a $25 million contract this week by county commissioners for a similar project that includes road-widening.
