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Landfill plan needs a careful eye

By ANDREW SKERRITT, Times Columnist
Published December 18, 2007

Twenty years ago we had an environmental crisis in Pasco County. The only garbage landfill near Dade City was about to overflow. But the more serious problem lay at the bottom of the pit, where poison leaked into the earth toward the underground river.

County commissioners finally took bold action and in 1991 built the state-of-the-art "resource recovery" plant in Shady Hills. The idea was to burn garbage to create electricity - enough to light 15,000 homes. The ash would be stored in cells with thick seals to protect the groundwater. The trouble is, the plant is running at capacity, forcing the county to ship excess waste to Osceola County.

This was called the "best available technology." Landfills all over Florida, including another Pasco pit in the Port Richey area, had been foolishly constructed without proper protections. And while many environmentalists squawked over the idea of sending pollution into the air, the alternative was considered much worse.

You like reruns? Today we have a private company, Angelo's Aggregate Materials, that wants to bury tons of garbage in a pit - right next to the one the county abandoned outside Dade City.

A private company.

Here's the sales pitch: Trust us to build this landfill, which could be as large as 1,000 acres, and you won't have to spend millions of tax dollars to expand the Shady Hills incinerator.

Okay, good point. But the Green Swamp is still just over the berm. The Withlacoochee River still winds its way north a little more than a Tiger Woods' 9-iron away.

Take a ride through the neighborhoods and you can see this is a big issue. "Stop the Landfill" signs seem to outnumber Christmas decorations. Folks worry that Angelo's grandiose promises about composting and recycling don't match the details on its state Department of Environmental Protection application.

Disposing garbage in a fast growing county can be a lucrative business. But as we have learned here and elsewhere around Florida, it is dangerous work that cries for control and oversight. If something goes wrong with the incinerator, we can go visit our five elected county commissioners. If they want to raise our rates, we can storm the government center.

You really can fight city hall.

As we go forward, perhaps Angelo's will show that it does indeed have a better idea. But for now, it's not convincing.

Andrew Skerritt can be reached at askerritt@sptimes.com or 813 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602.

[Last modified December 17, 2007, 21:23:45]