ST. PETERSBURG - Over and over in the 1990s, defense contractor Raytheon bought out other companies. Each time it inherited an environmental headache: Chemicals used by those companies had seeped into the soil.
More than 90 federal lawsuits have sought to stick Raytheon with the cost of removing or cleaning up tainted soil. Residents of St. Petersburg's Azalea neighborhood in April became the latest to seek legal help, seeking a quick cleanup of their community.
But Raytheon's track record shows the Azalea neighborhood may be waiting awhile.
At an Arizona site, the company's cleanup work sent tainted water to 50,000 people. It may take 30 years to finish that job. In California, Raytheon admitted to leaking chemicals, but would not take responsibility for cleanup. In Kansas, it took the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to prod Raytheon into action.
Today, Raytheon runs remediation programs in 45 locations, costing $149-million, according to company reports.
Attorneys for the Azalea residents want their case against Raytheon to go to trial quickly.
"This is a pressing environmental issue that Raytheon has put off for too long," lawyer Brian Barr said.
Azalea residents were stunned in March when they learned of contamination beneath their homes from chemicals once stored at E-Systems near Tyrone Square Mall. Raytheon knew about the pollution when it bought E-Systems in 1995, and both state and company officials have known since 1999 that the plume had spread.
Raytheon, which faces an Aug. 31 deadline for reporting the full extent of the underground contamination, strives to be a good neighbor, says spokesman Jonathan Kasle.
"Raytheon,'' he says, "takes its stewardship responsibilities to its employees and the community seriously."
But people who have dealt with Raytheon on other cleanups say the company hasn't been all that cooperative.
"In theory, they should be going side-by-side with us," said Matthew Jefferson, the EPA's remedial project manager on an Arizona site. "But sometimes it's really tough.
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