OuR Work

FOCUS's Program Work

Read about the steps that FOCUS is taking to regulate Tallevast's contamination and the methods of community revitalization:

Program Plan

2020-2023 highlights since contamination cleanup began

After five years of operating its FDEP approved cleanup, Lockheed’s annual reports indicated that its cleanup was not performing as predicted in the approved plan. Perhaps most notably, Lockheed acknowledged that the outer edge of the plume had not shrunk but in fact had grown in some directions and that contamination removal in some of the aquifer levels was slower than predicted. FOCUS noticed this in the reports but to confirm and better understand these issues, it re-engaged scientific and regulatory experts. Since that time FOCUS has continued to advocate for these issues to be addressed. Here are some of the highlights of work performed by FOCUS staff :

FOCUS has reviewed all Lockheed reports and correspondence between Lockheed and FDEP on these reports.
FOCUS has maintained a library of all of these reports.
FOCUS increased its involvement with Ramboll, the environmental consulting firm paid for by Lockheed under its Consent Order with the State. Specifically, FOCUS has requested Ramboll’s review of all formal reports submitted by Lockheed to FDEP including all annual Remedial Action Status Reports (RASRs), all annual wetlands monitoring reports, all new plans for additional field work to investigate where the plume is unassessed or under assessed, all new plans for activities associated with investigating why the cleanup is not progressing as Lockheed expected in its approved RAP, and more. Since late 2020 this has resulted in eleven letters from Ramboll on behalf of FOCUS and the Tallevast community filed with FDEP and other government agencies advocating for additional investigation of the contamination and quicker, more efficient cleanup, as well as other specific requests that impact the community.
FOCUS rehired its environmental consultant (RES formerly ESciences), who assisted in the DOAH approval of Lockheed’s cleanup plan to first perform a five-year review on the progress of the cleanup and since to review all formal reports submitted by Lockheed to FDEP including all annual Remedial Action Status Reports (RASRs), all annual wetlands monitoring reports, all new plans for additional field work to investigate where the plume is unassessed or under assessed, all new plans for activities associated with investigating why the cleanup is not progressing as Lockheed expected in its approved RAP, and more. Additionally, RES monitors FDEP’s OCULUS database weekly and reports to FOCUS about any communications or activities discussed between Lockheed and FDEP. Since late 2020 this has resulted in ten letters from RES/ESciences on behalf of FOCUS and the Tallevast community filed with FDEP and other government agencies advocating for additional investigation of the contamination and quicker, more efficient cleanup, as well as other specific requests that impact the community.
FOCUS submits all of the critiques it receives from Ramboll and RES to FDEP and copies other government agencies and elected officials at all levels of government to keep them informed and to rely on them for support with FOCUS’ requests and recommendations for safer, quicker, and more efficient cleanup.
FOCUS also meets with government agencies and elected officials on ABC clean up as well as other environmental, health, and related quality of life issues in Tallevast. Since 2021 FOCUS has conducted six meetings and also communicates with them via emails and phone calls.

2020-2023 redevelopment highlights

Additionally, at the same time members of the community have been regularly expressing concerns about new industry coming into the community and have asked FOCUS to engage on these due to their environmental and health risks. Here are a few highlights of that additional work:

FOCUS represented the Tallevast community in the rezoning of the Schmidt farm in 2020 to oppose this action which supports additional industry coming to Tallevast, this included hiring attorneys to give testimony on behalf of FOCUS at both the planning commission and the county commission. FOCUS also conducted outreach to the community on these issues to keep them informed about what was happening and how they could participate directly. FOCUS also convinced the County to require the developer to meet directly with the community prior to the rezoning. FOCUS also convinced the County and the developer to include some buffering and transportation changes to site plan for the first Phase of development on this property.
FOCUS represented the Tallevast community in the site plan process with Manatee County for the Phase 2 of this development including by getting the County to direct the developer to meet directly with the community both before and after the site plan approval. FOCUS also tracked the approval process for this site plan and filed opposition to its approval. FOCUS also convinced the County and the developer to include buffering above that required by law for this site plan.
FOCUS has met with County staff, elected officials, and developers with actions seeking County approval at least eight times between 2020-2023 to advocate against this increased industry and to advocate for greater protections of the community from these developments, as well as to hold the county accountable for outstanding infrastructure and service needs in Tallevast. This includes meetings in 2022 and 2023 where FOCUS presented priority needs of the Tallevast community, which was informed by community input via email, phone, in-person communications with FOCUS staff and board, and at various community meetings regarding the above mentioned issues.
FOCUS applied for and received small grants from Manatee County to provide both personal protective equipment to the Tallevast community during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and for a holiday meal. FOCUS was approached by the County to provide these services as it knew that Tallevast is often overlooked by other providers for these types of activities. FOCUS performed outreach informing Tallevast residents of these benefits and then facilitated delivery of these services.
FOCUS has also conducted meetings with developers and other interested parties to try to find assistance with addressing community concerns related to this increased industrial development – trying to find developers interested in projects that would be more beneficial to the community.
FOCUS has partnered with two colleges or universities to conduct projects beneficial to the community including environmental testing/monitoring and community visioning.
FOCUS has partnered with the University of South Florida’s Center for Brownfields Redevelopment and Research to apply for and receive brownfields grants which will facilitate an updated community vision and to perform environmental testing on some private properties where Lockheed’s testing does not provide data and where homeowners have remained unsure about the safety of their properties.
FOCUS has invested in and is investing in additional technology to make its community communications more accessible to the broader community, first through the pandemic and now on a continuing basis since health concerns, the increasing age of the average Tallevast resident, and other challenges have made it more challenging for people to attend meetings.
Engaging the broader Tallevast community is an integral part of FOCUS work on all issues. The following detail ways that FOCUS has done this over the last few years:
- FOCUS has sent an end-of-year letter to all registered property owner addresses (emails where they have been given) informing them of a summary and some highlights of FOCUS’ activities that year.
- FOCUS conducted at least ten community meetings/events.
- FOCUS has advertised all community meetings through community-wide flyers as well as emails and sometimes letters.
- FOCUS has conducted three community-wide surveys.
- FOCUS has utilized flyers to communicate other information to the community.
- FOCUS has performed additional follow-up communications and meetings with community participants on several projects.

contamination investigation accomplishments

During the investigation and cleanup plan development stages of the ABC site, FOCUS advocated on behalf of the community for better investigation and better cleanup advocating for FDEP to reject several site assessments and several cleanup plans. Additionally, throughout this process, FOCUS advocated for numerous other protections and benefits for the Tallevast community including:

Securing more transparency from government officials to the community regarding the contamination investigation and cleanup.
Securing requirements on Lockheed beyond those in statute to share documents, reports, and data with the community throughout the investigation and cleanup.
Securing compensation from Lockheed for Tallevast property owners for the closure of wells on their private property.
Securing a program that replaced private drinking water wells with permanent public water system connections to the County’s drinking water system.
Securing compensation from Lockheed for Tallevast property owners for its investigation and monitoring actions taken on these private properties.
Convincing Lockheed to relocate the entire community to nearby hotels for almost a month while they demolished buildings shown to contain heavy metals.
Convincing Lockheed to support funding for scientists working on behalf of the community throughout the duration of site investigation and clean up.
Convincing Lockheed to fund independent air monitoring in the community during site demolition and construction activities.
Convincing Lockheed to allow scientists working on behalf of the community to oversee some of its site investigations and at times to allow those scientists to take their own independent samples to confirm Lockheed’s findings.
Securing state and federal funding for health assessment and monitoring programs performed in Tallevast during this time.
Secured pro bono assistance from nonprofit attorneys and academics to help the community navigate the regulatory programs for investigation and cleanup.
Secured pro bono assistance from nonprofit attorneys and academics to negotiate and execute agreements for many of the above activities.