March 1st: Defeat the Racist Riviera Beach Bleach Plant Plan

On February 9th, residents of Riviera Beach and environmental justice activists across the county were successful in compelling the Planning and Zoning Board to make a recommendation that would stop the Odyssey proposal and to encourage the City Counsel to deny any future plans to locate in the City of Riviera Beach.

Odyssey bleach plant in Tampa, FL

This Wednesday, March 1st, 6pm at Riviera Beach City Hall, the City Counsel meeting will take a final vote on the matter. But residents are concerned that the Counsel will pass this proposal in spite of the Planning and Zoning Board's conclusion.

The proposed site is zoned General Industrial with a "special exception" requirement which means that the plan can only be approved if it can show that it will do no harm to the community.

The site is adjacent to a large apartment complex, surrounded by low-income, African American residential areas, schools, churches, and a large food company. All of these are within the 1/2 mile evacuation zone required by the US Emergency Responder guidelines for facilities handling liquid bleach, which is a code 1791 product. This requires an evacuation plan and a hazmat plan. 

Feb 9th Meeting on Massive Bleach Storage Facility Next to Residents of Riviera Beach

From the Environmental Assessment by ERMI

The Riviera Beach Planning and Zoning Board (P&Z) will be voting on approval for a massive bleach storage and distribution center this week, Thursday, Feb 9, 6:30 p.m. at the Council Chambers in Municipal Complex at 600 West Blue Heron Boulevard, 33404
 
News of the proposed facility, which seeks to store and 40,000 gallons of bleach and transport tankers during all hours of the day, only surfaced in December, and has received minimal coverage aside from a single story last month from CBS 12.

The conditions for approval (which can be viewed in the P&Z packet) say the plan must show that it will not harm the public interest, but the Environmental Assessment report conducted by a consulting firm, Environmental Risk Management, Inc (ERMI), lacks a cumulative impact assessment which shows all the other industrial facilities surrounding Riviera, all of which individually swear they are doing no harm, but collectively pose an environmental justice nightmare where racism is undeniable.

The Environmental Assessment also gives minimal information about impacts from a large accident in transportation, both on public health and on the waterways which drain into a sensitive and already overburdened coastal ecosystem.

The bleach plant would sit adjacent to a residential community, including home day care facilities.

PBCEC supports residents of Riviera Beach in asking the P&Z Board to conduct a series of public meetings to fully inform the community of this proposal.