Protests send Helena looking for new site

Boynton Beach, Fla.-Helena Chemical Co., under fire from environmentalists for plans to locate a new fertilizer and pesticide warehouse near the main entrance to a wildlife refuge, is expected to settle on an alternate site right away. Helena officials were not available to comment, but a U.S. Fish & Wildlife representative told Green Markets that “a couple of other sites are under consideration.” Helena had proposed moving from its current location at Delray Beach Marketplace into a 14,520 square foot facility on a five-acre site in an agriculture reserve next to the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. The facility would be used for storing and selling prepackaged pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer. But Friends of the Wildlife Refuge and a coalition of Boynton West homeowners objected that the chemicals warehoused there could have harmful effects on the animals and plants. Helena spokesman Ed Brister, at corporate headquarters in Collierville, Tenn., said he didn’t know the details, but that “they were working through some issue.” Florida Division Manager John Baxter wasn’t available for comment, but told the local press that he couldn’t understand others being allowed in the ag reserve while his company “is given a hard time.” A coalition officer said the group doesn’t object to a chemical warehouse finding another location within the ag reserve. Cindy Fury, a senior biologist at the refuge, said she has been working with a Helena lawyer and the Planning & Urban Design Agency, which is handling the permitting, and “it looks like we may have (another) site.” She added that it will be win-win situation for everybody. Fury said the matter is supposed to come up Sept. 6 at a meeting of the Palm Beach County Commission, but she expects there will be an extension to allow Helena and other parties to make arrangements for the new location. The refuge, which attracts 300,000 visitors annually, is home to otters, bobcats, owls, woodpeckers, wading birds, and other species – some of them endangered. It includes a 400-acre cypress swamp that is part of the Everglades system.