The 11.4 mile bike trail planned for South Lee and Collier counties received another nudge forward with the Estero Village Council unanimously voting Wednesday to move forward with its portion of the route. The council had until Thursday to pull out of the project known as the Bonita Estero Rail Trail or BERT.
“It’s been a long journey, this is monumental,” said Councilman Jon McLain, who is Estero’s liaison for the project.
Seminole agreed to sell the unused railroad right-of-way for $60 million. Bonita Springs and Collier County are partnering with Estero to pay for the project. Bonita voters in August approved a $35 million bond issue in August. Collier will pay $11.6 million. The closing is scheduled for January.
“I want to put on the record based on the reporting, based on the response of professionals, I feel comfortable moving forward with the project,” Vice Mayor George Zalucki said.
Council received an environmental report from S&S Environmental Consultants before making its decision.
S&S collected 181 soil samples at 60 locations along the railroad corridor owned by Seminole Gulf Railroad. Sixty-nine soil samples in 23 locations were in Estero. S&S analyzed the sites for lead and arsenic. Lead was detected in all but one location in Estero, but it didn’t exceed the soil cleanup target levels for residential direct exposure, Richard Stephens, a partner and principal scientist for S&S, told council. Arsenic showed up in all 23 locations. Thirty-six samples taken at the 23 locations had higher concentrations of arsenic than the soil cleanup target levels for residential direct exposure.
S&S found hydrocarbons such as gasoline and creosote at 19 locations that exceeded soil cleanup target levels for industrial areas.
The findings weren’t surprising Stephens said. They were similar to what has been found at other railroad corridors turned into bike trails.
The pollutants can come from creosote used to treat railroad ties, spilled or leaked fuels and wood preservatives and pesticides. Some arsenic occurs naturally, the report said.
S&S recommends consulting with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to discuss the findings and come up with a plan for what cleanup needs to be done.
Some of the cleaning can include digging up contaminated soil or cap the contaminated soil with clean soil. Construction of the asphalt trail also can serve as a cap, the S&S’ report said.
The cleanup can be done during construction of the trail, Stephens said.
Construction, which will be done in phases, still is at least two years away.
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