- Coronet Industries
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Coronet Industries Incorporated is a chemical company that operated a plant converting phosphate to animal feed outside of Plant City, Florida. The plant operated for over 100 years before closing in March 2004 in the midst of an investigation by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the State of Florida, and the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County.
Residents of the surrounding community alleged that pollution from the plant leached into the groundwater and caused increased rates of cancer amongst other health problems. Arsenic, boron, cadmium, lead and other dangerous chemicals were detected in residential wells surrounding the plant. The federal Environmental Protection Agency cautioned state officials about potential health risks associated with leaky equipment and corroded stacks allowing underwater leaching and spills from Coronet, but residents were not notified of ongoing problems with the company's lack of environmental controls. The state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David Struhs expressed concern over "potential systemic problems that prevented the situation from being identified and corrected sooner" in the Tampa office of the DEP. Legislation requiring the state of Florida to notify area residents in such events was proposed.
A 2006 report by the state of Florida said that those who were exposed to the Coronet site after 2003 were at no health risk, although there was insufficient evidence to draw a conclusion about those who were exposed before that time.
Approximately 1,200 residents who live near the plant and former employees of Coronet Industries have filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, alleging amongst other things that the pollution from the plant has harmed their health and lowered property values. Coronet, at the time it was shut down in 2004, was owned by Japan based Mitsui and Onoda Chemical. Previous owners include Borden Chemical, Smith-Douglas and Browne Gregg. The residents were initially represented by Masry & Vititoe, the firm which employed famous environmental activist Erin Brockovich, among other law firms.
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