Local officials see limited options to stop planned fuel tank farm, terminal outside Ormond

DELAND — Ormond Beach residents worried that a huge fuel tank farm and rail terminal will lead to noise, heavy truck traffic, water contamination, air pollution, accidents, and even terrorist attacks got some disappointing news at a special Volusia County Council meeting Wednesday night.

A large, at times emotional crowd was told that the county doesn't have legal grounds to appeal an air permit issued Aug. 1 by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection which is needed for the construction of the facility just outside Ormond Beach on Hull Road.

Ormond Beach city government officials aren't legally authorized to appeal the permit either.

In addition, a key deadline to protest the project passed more than a month ago.

The company behind the facility plans to install 16 above-ground tanks that would handle more than 357 million gallons of gasoline per year, 36 million gallons of ethanol, and additional amounts of diesel, biodiesel and propane. The fuels would be offloaded from trains to the tanks and trucked to area retail fuel outlets.

Overflow crowd

As Wednesday night's three-hour meeting wore on, county council members opposed to the project offered a sliver of hope that the proposed facility could possibly still be blocked or shifted to a new location.

It was a spark of good news for the hundreds of Ormond Beach residents who packed into council chambers shoulder to shoulder Wednesday night, and the rest of the crowd that had to be funneled into two overflow areas so fire codes wouldn't be violated.

One group filled a bus, and when they got a chance to speak, they unleashed their anger toward local government officials and their fears of a tank farm being located within a few miles of residential neighborhoods, a sports complex and businesses.

"I feel like they're setting all the pieces in place to checkmate us," said Ormond Beach resident Lindsey Pate, who threatened a class action lawsuit if someone doesn't put the brakes on the tank farm. "Fight for this as if it's going in your backyard. It's going in mine, and I have three children to raise."

Bear Creek Village resident Nancy Bales said she and many of her neighbors have survived everything from World War II to the turbulent 1960s, "so we don't scare easily. But the thought of having tanks with 20 million gallons of fuel in our backyard scares the bejesus out of us."

"Bear Creek sits in the direct line of fire if there's an accident," Bales said. "Would you want your parents living in the kill zone? If the answer is hell no, then by God do something to help us."

Legal constraints

More than 12,000 people, some from Ormond Beach and some from areas nowhere near Ormond Beach, signed a petition opposing the project.

Nearly 40 residents each stood before council members for their allotted three minutes to say they felt blindsided by the project. Many learned about it by stumbling on a legal ad for the DEP air permit that was published in a local weekly newspaper. Others were made aware by a story in the News-Journal.

The state was not required to notify the county nor Ormond Beach about the permit, a county attorney said.

"The public notification system is broken," said Councilman David Santiago.

"None of us were aware of this air permit," County Attorney Michael Dyer said.

Dyer said he'll find out if there was sufficient legal notice, and if not, he'll send a letter to the DEP.

"We will go to work for you," vowed Volusia County Chairman Jeff Brower.

The council voted unanimously to have county staff work with Belvedere Terminals of St. Petersburg to consider a different site, meet with state and federal officials, and study case law to explore the county's options. The council also directed staff to come up with a way to notify the public of major upcoming projects.

The DEP released its notice to issue the air permit on July 7. Anyone who wanted to challenge the permit had 14 days, until July 21, to request an administrative determination hearing, said Senior Assistant County Attorney Paolo Soria.

The permit was issued on Aug. 1. Those opposed to the DEP permit were given 30 days to appeal, but it doesn't appear that anyone has.

The county lacks standing because it didn't challenge the permit before issuance, and it doesn't see a basis to challenge the permit under state government criteria.

Providing evidence that a person or entity would be adversely affected "is a high standard and the courts have found that a general interest in the environment, for example, is insufficient to establish standing to challenge an FDEP construction permit," Soria said.

A challenge to the permit would have to be based on evidence that the operation of the petroleum bulk station would violate Florida's regulations for ambient air quality.

The DEP has said the proposed facility is not a major source of hazardous air pollutants, and the plant would operate under current federal regulations and national emissions standards of hazardous air pollutants.

More about the petroleum bulk station project

If approved, the tank farm will be built on more than 60 acres of vacant, unincorporated Volusia County land at 874 Hull Road, just southwest of U.S. 1.

The facility would include a petroleum tank farm, a rail terminal, and 165 tanker trucks coming and going every day. A woman at Wednesday's meeting sat in view of a camera livestreaming the meeting and held a sign that said "No 165 trucks daily!"

The plant would have 16 tanks that would be 13-40 feet tall and would store more than 20 million gallons of fuel.

Within about a mile of the proposed facility is the Ormond Beach Sports Complex, which has a playground and a mix of sports facilities. The area also has residential, commercial and industrial uses, including Halifax Paving and beverage distributor S.R. Parrott. The Ormond Beach Municipal Airport is also nearby.

"This location is wildly inappropriate," said County Councilman Troy Kent, whose district includes Ormond Beach. "I do believe there is a need for these types of places, just not here."

"I want this stopped," Brower said.

The project site doesn't need to be rezoned. Most of the property is zoned for heavy industrial use, and a piece of it is zoned agricultural.

The site has had industrial zoning status since 2006, so it can develop the tank farm by right as long as it gets the required permits and government staff approvals.

County staff members will still need to decide on final site plan approval for the project. The plans would also have to get past the county's Development Review Committee, which is also made up of county staff, before construction could begin.

If the tank farm is built, the property will be annexed into the city of Ormond Beach because it will be using city utilities, Ormond Beach Planning Director Steven Spraker has said.

County Director of Growth and Resource Management Clay Ervin said the site had been used to handle asphalt and concrete materials but has been idle for about 16 years.

In June of 2022, an engineering firm representing Belvedere Terminals met with both Ormond Beach city officials and county officials to talk about utility access and annexation, Ervin said. The engineers also asked if the tank farm would be a permitted use.

About a week ago the engineers re-emerged to request a meeting to talk about traffic impact. But Ervin stressed that no plans or formal application have ever been filed to move the venture forward.

If Belvedere Terminals meets all of the land development code requirements, Ervin said his staff is obligated to approve the project. If either the county or city of Ormond Beach violates any property rights, they could be hit with a lawsuit, Ervin warned.

Belvedere Terminals Chief Operating Officer Mike Benedetto said in a prepared statement to The News-Journal for a previous story that the project will create hundreds of jobs.

"Belvedere Terminals is committed to using the highest level of life safety and protection designs," he said. "The company’s tremendous focus on safety measures that are designed into the project at the outset incorporate redundant layers of protection to mitigate any such events (like a fire or explosion)."

"The facility will have a fire protection system, including an emergency fire water pump and foam fire suppression, as well as safety monitoring systems, according to FDEP documents and Benedetto.

'Government officials sold us out for a fuel farm'

County Councilman Jake Johansson was booed by the crowd in council chambers Wednesday night when he said neither the city of Ormond Beach nor the county hid anything.

"We've been trying to figure out how government officials sold us out for a fuel farm," said Elena Craft.

She said the people who would be impacted most were kept "in complete darkness."

"We will not be gaslighted or manipulated, and we will not back down," Craft said.

Arthur Armstrong warned council members that there could be retaliation at the polls.

"It's been stuck to us, and we're not going to take it," Armstrong said.

"How does something like this happen where nobody knows?" asked Ormond Beach resident Jason Leslie. "My neighborhood is gone if something goes wrong."

A retired firefighter said Volusia County doesn't have the capacity to handle a hazardous train derailment or a fuel fire.

More about petroleum bulk station: Massive fuel terminal coming to Ormond Beach; residents worry about traffic, safety

"Why in God's name do we have to defend ourselves over something you should have said no to a long time ago?" asked Timothy Frick. "Stop it now."

Rebecca Mongalli stepped up to the microphone with her two young sons, who she said play soccer near the fuel depot site.

"Shame on you for not doing your job," she scolded.

"If my child dies, will you go to bed knowing you did all you could to stop it?" another woman asked.

You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia County Council hears dozens of objections to fuel tank farm