FOLIOOne needs a playbill to keep all the faces, places, events and stories of the Solite saga straight. And even then, some are changed. Some are rearranged. Some are rescripted.
Directing and scripting Solite’s entourage is Susan Fraser of SLF Consulting. Fraser was a planner and director of planning and zoning for Clay County for 10 years. Some local folks joke that developers may one day erect a statue to her. Since leaving her county job and taking her connections and vast knowledge of how things work into the private sector, she appears to have facilitated the transformation of lots of pristine countryside and animal habitats into booming behemoths of development.
Next on the bill is the developer, Michael Danhour of the Danhour Group. Danhour usually appears in his workin’-man garb: scruffy jeans, comfortable shoes and a somewhat faded golf shirt. Throughout the last 23 years, other potential developers of the Solite land did a quick exit-stage-left when they found out the Solite land was pervasive with hazardous wastes. Not Danhour.
According to the Florida Division of Corporations, Michael Danhour assumed the Danhour Group name two years ago from Ryan Danhour, his younger brother. He had an excellent website with seemingly impressive credentials. However, some of the information on his website was not accurate. He listed his business address as 8280 Princeton Square Blvd. W. in Jacksonville. According to longtime occupants of the space, Danhour does not now and never has occupied the Princeton Square space. When asked about the address on his website, Danhour told Folio Weekly his “corporate headquarters” for the Danhour Group and his other corporations were actually located at 4045 Post St., in Riverside. The Post Street address is the home of J&W Discount, which Danhour said he purchased in March 20l7. It’s a large, poorly ventilated warehouse store that carries everything from panties to peanuts and boasts of good deals “7 Days a Week.”
One employee at J&W said she thought she knew Danhour, but wasn’t sure.
Another said, “I know who Mr. Danhour is. He has an office in the back but is rarely ever there.” Another employee said, “I have no idea who this Michael guy is. But Wayne might be here.” Wayne was not there.
There also appears to be no group in Danhour’s Group. Two of the people listed on his website as being part of his “team” do not work there. A third is a realtor who works for another organization. Danhour listed several residential developments to his credit, but the developments appear to have never been built. After a discussion with Folio Weekly, Danhour totally revamped his website. His team has disappeared and his list of developments is different. He did admit that he did not occupy the Princeton Square address, saying it was the office of a “friend.” However, during the rescripting of his website, he neglected to change his corporate headquarters from Princeton Square Boulevard to Post Street.
Two young engineers also have bit parts in Solite/Stoneridge’s cast of characters. They are interpreting the hazardous waste tests results, some of which were done approximately 28 years ago, and may possibly do further testing on the site for Danhour. One of the young engineers said his wife advised him that his name better not appear in the media regarding this issue. Folio Weekly agreed not to use his name.
Two other entities who should be playing a major role in Solite’s production, but can’t quite decide what their roles are going to be, are the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). The EPA appears to have turned its part over to the FDEP. Agents at FDEP are currently attempting to analyze waste samplings. One agent wrote in an email that parts of the Solite property were clean, then wrote he was mistaken. Since Solite has transferred ownership to Stoneridge Farms, which is an inactive company with no assets, one FDEP agent wrote in an email that, based on its lack of assets, it is unlikely it intends to clean up the hazardous wastes left behind. The FDEP agreed that Solite did, however, have a binding agreement with EPA to clean up the toxic wastes.
And caught in the middle of all this mess are the most important characters of all, Solite’s neighbors, the folks who make up the Russell Community. They are unmistakable. Some have friends, family and neighbors who are ill or have died. Most are scared for their lives and the lives of their family members, and the lives of generations to come. They are angry, and brave, and determined to speak for themselves and for those who can no longer do so. They are a united force that has been underplayed and underestimated. They are the victims, bound and determined to get at the truth.
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Read our in-depth reporting on the Solite saga here, and an update since the first story was published here.
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