FLORIDA TIMES-UNION July 14, 2005
Putnam County closes troubled labor camp
By MATT GALNOR
PALATKA -- Putnam County officials Wednesday shut down Evans Labor Camp, the same camp whose owner is facing federal charges after police raided the place last month. A month ago, county code officials ordered camp owner Ronald Evans to fix a slew of problems, including exposed wires and unvented heaters in sleeping rooms. On Wednesday, Evans' deadline, little work had been done, said John Salmons, Putnam County's chief code enforcement official. The formal closing came just hours before a town meeting on conditions at labor camps in Northeast Florida. Several dozen people attended the meeting, including plenty of government officials but only a handful of the labor contractors and farmers that would have the most say in any major changes. Evans' camp is mostly vacant right now, with a majority of workers having left a couple of weeks ago for North Carolina to work on vegetable farms for the summer. But Wednesday's move to shut down the facility will have significant bearing on whether the camp opens back up for cabbage season in the fall. Salmons said he was told camp operators planned on opening again in September. That won't happen unless all the problems are fixed. "If he wants to do that in September, he's got an awful lot of work to do," Salmons said. Evans plans to fix all the problems, as he has the few times issues have been brought to his attention, Evans' attorney Robert Willis said Wednesday. The raid at Evans' camp brought employees' working and living conditions back into the public eye, drawing the attention of state Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville. Hill, whose district includes parts of Putnam and St. Johns counties, hosted Wednesday's town meeting to start what he hopes is a process to significantly improve conditions at the camps. Hill said he'd like to push to end the camps all together, adding Wednesday's closing of Evans' camp only strengthens his argument for affordable housing so workers can live on their own. Hill brought officials from Tallahassee, including representatives state departments overseeing agriculture and business regulation. Farmworkers advocates were also there, as were county health and health officials, as well as county commissioners. When police raided Evans' camp last month, they found a pipe that led sewage directly into a creek that feeds into the St. Johns River. Last month, the state health department shut down the kitchen and one of the restrooms and ordered Evans to put in a new septic system. Laurey Gauch, head of the Putnam County Health Department, said applications have been filed to replace the system, but it has not yet been fixed. Workers were still able to use one restroom facility and food was brought in for employees. Police also found 148 rocks of crack cocaine, about 20 cases of beer and dozens of packs of cigarettes in a small shed on the property. Several former workers at Evans' camp and others in the area speak of long hours and little pay, often collecting what amounts to less than a dollar an hour after paying back debt for beer, cigarettes or crack sold at the camp. Evans and three others were indicted last month on federal charges, including making false statements to labor officials. A trial had been scheduled for next month but has been postponed until at least October. If convicted, Evans faces up to 13 years in prison.
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