Excess trash to leave county

Shipping 61,000 tons to Osceola County provides some time to ponder expanding the incinerator.

By CHUIN-WEI YAP, Times Staff Writer
Published September 26, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco County has decided to send some of its excess trash to Osceola County, giving itself some breathing room to deal with a bigger issue: whether or not to expand the incinerator.

Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved the contract with Waste Services of Florida, which is expected to send 61,000 tons of trash out of the county next year, at $38 a ton.

The contract would last 20 years, but the county has an option to back out after the first four years. By then the county might have other options.

One of them is a proposal for a private landfill just outside Dade City. That proposal, by Largo-based Angelo's Aggregate Materials, is still under review at the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The three existing burners at the incinerator can handle about 318,000 tons a year, but Pasco already produces more trash than it can burn.

The Waste Services contract means no extra costs to homeowners, who will continue to pay a $62 solid waste assessment fee each year.

But if the decision is to add a fourth burner to the incinerator, growing its capacity by 600 tons daily, then the cost to each household - called "equivalent residential units" in industry-speak - would go as high as $163 per year in 20 years, mostly to recoup the debt service on the cost of expansion, said Michael Nurrenbrock, Pasco's budget chief.

"It may be easier and less expensive to bury garbage, especially when it's in another county," said Michael Cox. "But in the long run, I certainly prefer taking garbage and turning it into electricity."

A fourth incinerator burner could come online in 2012, if officials started work on it today, Nurrenbrock said.

An extra 600 tons in incinerator capacity also would be a gamble that the county would be able to sell the initial excess space at $37.50 a ton to other governments or organizations, he said.

"It's a big jump of faith," Nurrenbrock said.

But it was the environmental issue that brought a sharp response from County Administrator John Gallagher.

The landfill's proponents have accused the incinerator of spewing dangerous fumes, and when commissioner Ted Schrader echoed these fears, Gallagher stepped in.

"We have never exceeded federal regulations on air quality, due to the County Commission always allowing us to use new technologies," he said. "The goal was not to trade air pollution for water pollution."

The commission's decision would give Waste Services a "notice to proceed" by the end of this week, Nurrenbrock said.

Dispute with state DCA settled for now

On Tuesday, commissioners also headed off a legal challenge from the state Department of Community Affairs that would have threatened the Wiregrass Ranch development.

The department had appealed Pasco's development order for the 5,000-acre Wesley Chapel project, because Hillsborough County wanted compensation for Wiregrass' impact on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

The developer and Pasco agreed to amend the project's development order when they revisit road improvement projects for Wiregrass' second and third phases, when Hillsborough's concerns would be taken up. Road works for those subsequent phases haven't been identified yet.

"The department has agreed to this language," said Assistant County Attorney David Goldstein. The new wording is expected to take effect Oct. 9, after which "DCA will dismiss the appeal within five days," he said.

Chuin-Wei Yap can be reached at 813909-4613 or cyap@sptimes.com.

[Last modified September 25, 2007, 21:19:06]