But it does so without a permit, apparently. Neighbors are now trying to get the state to shut it down.
By Jackson Rothman
Original Air Date: March 18, 2026
Host: Three weeks after the company that runs it was dissolved, a controversial concrete crushing plant near downtown Sarasota continues to operate, generating dust near neighborhoods that already have the highest incidence of asthma anywhere in Florida. The state seems to have the power to shut it down. But will the Florida Department of Environmental Protection act? Jackson Rothman reports.
Jackson Rothman: On February 25, the owner of the concrete crushing plant at the south end of the Cocoanut-Central neighborhood dissolved the corporation that runs it. But concrete crushing continues, apparently under a different corporate entity controlled by Christopher Williams. Williams is the Sarasota entrepreneur who set up the plant that processes debris from demolition sites in 2019.
US Recycling crushes cement from demolitions. This process generates dust which strong winds can carry up to three kilometers from the plant. Photo via Google Maps
The dissolved entity—US Recycling—is not only the legal entity that was the subject of numerous complaints by neighbors, and county and state inspections since 2020. It is also a defendant in the lawsuit filed in December by Suncoast Waterkeeper, an environmental organization. And two weeks ago, after calling it a “bad-faith actor,” the city commission decided to pursue legal action against US Recycling, too. But now, it’s unclear who could be served with any lawsuit.
The angle activists are now pursuing is a stormwater discharge permit issued by the state Department of Environmental Protection for US Recycling. That’s a rather generic kind of permit granted to industrial operators.
Map depicting the reach of dust emissions from the US Recycling plant. Graphic courtesy CCNA
The discharge permit is valid through November. Just a week before he dissolved US Recycling, Christopher Williams actually requested a change to the permit. But now he’s operating the crushing plant under a different name.
Ron Kashden is a former city commission candidate who has taken the lead in the effort to rein in the concrete crushing. Earlier this month, he prodded county staffers, who redirected him to state staffers.
In response to Kashden’s question whether the plant’s owner can continue to operate after US Recycling dissolved, here is what a staffer of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection replied:
Location of the US Recycling concrete crushing plant at the south end of the Cocoanut-Central neighborhood.
“If US Recycling Company is no longer the operator, then the new operator is required to obtain permit coverage.”
Christopher Wong, a Fort Myers-based staffer for FDEP, said in his reply to Kashden March 9 that he and his team would reach out to Williams “to have a better understanding of what is going on.”
We left a voice mail message for Williams on the phone number he gave state regulators, and we sent questions via email. We did not hear back from Williams before our deadline.
Kashden told WSLR that the US Recycling facility is continuing to operate. Kashden questioned how the permit can be active while the company that filed for it no longer exists.
Ron Kashden
Ron Kashden: Mr. Williams is operating that facility without a valid permit. Mr. Wong is looking into the technical aspect and one of his charges is whether a company that has been dissolved—that no longer exists—can still hold a permit because, in order for US Recycling to continue its operations, it’s required to have a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection. The question initially is, since US Recycling is dissolved, wouldn’t the permit also go with that?
JR: Kashden told us that other efforts to reach Christopher Williams have been unsuccessful as well.
Opposition to the concrete crushing operations
RK: What’s also fascinating is Mr. Williams himself—Christopher Williams—is listed as the responsible party on that permit, and Mr. Williams can’t be found anymore. When a process server aimed to that location, they were told he no longer works there with absolutely no forwarding address. So that facility has a permit right now where the operator has been dissolved and the responsible party cannot be found.
JR: Another permit for the facility covers the operations of the mobile crushing unit. The website for junkremoval.com, the company owning that permit, is not operational and the URL is available for purchase.
Jackson Rothman, reporting for WSLR. Johannes Werner contributed to this report.
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