OCEAN SPRINGS, MS – Millions in taxpayer dollars are already allocated. The current mayor and Board of Aldermen will remain in charge of those funds for another three months. But when City Hall was asked whether a planned family recreation site could be affected by the adjacent toxic waste site, they offered no answers — just a handoff.
“Maybe Bobby can help assist you more with getting answers or opinions,” City Clerk Patty Gaston wrote in an April 3rd email, referring to Mayor-elect Bobby Cox, who doesn’t take office for three months. “Since he will be the new Mayor, this might be an option,” she added.
It was a response to questions that, frankly, should not have been difficult to answer.
Just days prior, Mayor Kenny Holloway had unveiled plans to use $10 million in state funding to move the Public Works hub and turn its current property into a recreation space that includes playgrounds, pickleball courts, sports fields, and a large youth center.
GC Wire asked if the city had considered the risk that contamination from the adjacent Leica Microsystems property — a long-standing toxic waste site — could spread into the proposed recreation area.
We also asked if any environmental studies had ever been conducted on the current Public Works site itself — a property that previously hosted water and wastewater treatment operations, underground petroleum tanks, and a military armory.
The mayor refused to respond. His city clerk kicked the can to the incoming administration.
For those keeping score: Holloway and the current board still hold the purse strings for another three months. The money is real. The questions are valid. The silence is deafening.
Millions Allocated, Minimal Transparency
In 2022, the Mississippi Legislature allocated $3 million to Ocean Springs through the Capital Expense Fund for public works relocation and infrastructure improvements. State Rep. Hank Zuber even arrived with a ceremonial, game show-sized check — a moment captured and shared widely on social media to celebrate the funding.
Two and a half million of that money is earmarked for the Public Works move. The city also secured roughly $7 million more in Gulf Coast Restoration Funds for the project, according to Holloway’s previous public statements.
The city acquired a 6.2-acre industrial parcel on Bienville Boulevard three years ago. The move was tucked into a March 1, 2022 Board of Aldermen meeting. The land purchase was embedded in the consent agenda with no mention of its intended use. The only description? Parcel numbers. No mention of Public Works. No mention of the $546,000 listing price.
The meeting took place on Mardi Gras Day, with Holloway absent and Alderman Mike Impey presiding as Mayor Pro Tem. Aldermen Burgess, Papania, Wade, and Blackman voted to pass the consent agenda, which is usually reserved for things considered to be every day business. Authement and Cox were absent on the day of the vote.
According to the city’s public dashboard — last updated in April 2023 — construction on the new Public Works station was expected to begin in Winter 2024. Of course, that target date has come and gone.
A Toxic Neighbor
The mayor’s ambitious plan for the current Public Works site on Pine Drive includes what seems to be fun for the whole family. But what city officials haven’t publicly addressed is what’s next door, as well as beneath the actual site.
The adjacent property, 2006 Government Street, is a federally registered brownfield site. It was once home to Ferson Optics and is now owned by Leica Microsystems. The site was heavily contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE), a carcinogenic solvent known to break down into even more dangerous byproducts: DCE and vinyl chloride.
Despite remediation efforts beginning in 2009, off-site wells — including one labeled T-CAMW-31, directly across Pine Drive from the recreation site — continue to show extremely high concentrations of all three toxins:
- TCE: 1,200 ppb (EPA limit: 5 ppb)
- DCE: 27,000 ppb (EPA limit: 70 ppb)
- Vinyl Chloride: 4,000 ppb (EPA limit: 2 ppb)
That’s 240 times, 385 times, and 2,000 times their respective federal limits.
MDEQ says there is no current risk to human health, citing that local residents use public water and that the contaminated aquifer is capped by a clay layer — a natural barrier. However, the agency also confirmed that if a hotel is built on the Leica property, “sleeping quarters cannot be located on the first floor.” If that’s their standard for guests in a hotel, what about the new plan for children on an adjacent playground?
GC Wire found no public evidence that the Public Works property has undergone any environmental assessment — and when asked, the city refused to say if one has ever been done, despite concerns over the property previously housing water treatment facilities, underground fuel tanks, and an armory — while sitting downslope from the Leica toxic plume.
Even more curious: the city added both the Leica and Public Works properties to its latest Urban Renewal Plan — a move often used to encourage private development in specific areas. Holloway has been vocal about wanting a hotel, convention center, and retail shops on the tainted Leica land.
A Political Shakeup — and a Clock Ticking
In last week’s Republican primary, Ocean Springs voters decisively ousted Mayor Holloway and several of his allies on the board: Aldermen Jennifer Burgess, Rickey Authement, and Mike Impey also lost their races. Ken Papania did not seek reelection.
Alderman At-Large Bobby Cox, who missed the 2022 vote on the Public Works land, won the mayor’s race and will take office July 1st with a new board.
But until then, the current administration still controls millions in project funding – and they can legally advance the plan without any further public input.
In his final State of the City address, Holloway laid out his vision for Public Works in glowing terms: new administration buildings, washout stations, fueling centers, and material barns — all on the new site. Meanwhile, the old site would become a sprawling recreation zone for Ocean Springs families.
What he didn’t mention is the risk next door, the questions left unanswered, or the toxic cleanup that still hasn’t met MDEQ’s risk-based remedial goals — more than 15 years after the effort began.
A Hand-Off in Place of Accountability
City officials didn’t just dodge these questions — they passed the buck.
When GC Wire asked for confirmation about any environmental safety measures, the mayor refused to answer. And his city clerk pointed to the incoming administration, as if their jobs were already over.
That passive-aggressive deflection — “Maybe Bobby can help assist you…” — may go down as the most honest summary of how this administration is ending its term:
By punting questions.
By dodging oversight.
By treating legitimate public concerns like someone else’s problem.
But it’s not.
Not yet, anyway.
More Information:
Besides the contamination from the Leica site, the public works site may have its own contamination issues that need to be checked.
What about the employees who work there? Are they being tested for contamination / exposure? Their health could be at risk as well. Testing is a must for both locations before proceeding.
Residents, especially parents need to raise cane about where they are going to put this park. SMH……… I would not take MDEQ’s word for anything. I know how they responded years ago when the Incinerator was going to ship in medical waste to burn from all over the country. SMH……