TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

Downriver Reservations

ADVERTISEMENT

By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: December 17, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Hernando County is downstream of a disaster waiting to happen and residents should be paying attention, environmentalists say.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is currently considering a permit request by a private firm to construct a 92-acre landfill on 900 acres of land southeast of Dade City.
There is no concern here about a nasty smell or lots of trash truck traffic — the dump for household garbage proposed by Angelo's Aggregates of Largo would be located some 10 miles south of the Hernando-Pasco border.
But since the landfill site is about two miles west of the Withlacoochee River and on the edge of the Green Swamp, the plan poses a regional threat, opponents of the project say.
Environmentalists worry that polluted runoff from the site could find its way into the river or swamp or, in the worse case, the Floridan Aquifer.
"The reason people in Hernando County need to care about this is that we are the first county downstream," said Joe Murphy, conservation chairman of the Hernando Audubon. "The (Withlacoochee) really is one of the defining natural features of this county, and it's in serious enough trouble already without potential harm from a large landfill."
Murphy added: "Any contamination of the Green Swamp definitely affects water supply and water quality."
The 560,000-acre Green Swamp, which includes portions of Hernando, Lake, Polk, Pasco and Sumter counties, is considered the "hydrological heart" of Florida. The swamp is the source of the Hillsborough, Ocklawaha, Peace and Withlacoochee rivers. These rivers supply much of central Florida's drinking water.
The state has spent some $138 million on land in the region to prevent pollution from development finding its way into the swamp.
The nightmare scenario has a massive sinkhole opening up underneath the landfill, allowing pollutants to find their way into the aquifer that so much of the state relies on for drinking water, Murphy said.
"Once they're in there, it's almost impossible to get them out," Murphy said. "It just makes sense from a precautionary standpoint not to put a landfill on the edge or your regional water supply."
Environmentalists aren't the only voices of resistance.
The cities of Dade City and Zephyrhills have passed resolutions opposing the project. City of Tampa officials have written DEP expressing concerns that the landfill could impact the Hillsborough River, the city's main source of drinking water.
Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, wrote a letter to DEP Secretary Michael Sole urging him to deny the permit.
"As I know you can appreciate, the availability of fresh water is imperative for Florida's continued economic growth, and the Green Swamp is a major lynchpin towards this end," Fasano wrote.
The concerns are unfounded, said John Arnold, project manager for Angelo's Aggregates.
The landfill proposal has been "unfairly characterized" as a threat to the environment, Arnold said. In fact, the engineering that goes into site planning and the actual construction of the landfill prevents runoff from traveling off the site.
The design also accounts for sinkholes, he said.
"The engineering is so good and the standards so high, modern landfills don't have those problems that folks claim they do," Arnold said. DEP, he said, "would not issue a permit to a facility that could have any of those impacts."
Drainage retention areas capture stormwater runoff that doesn't contact garbage. The liquid that does touch trash or leaks from it — called leachate — is trapped, diverted to tanks and trucked away.
Core samples taken from the area help predict the possibility of catastrophic sinkholes. A special liner under the landfill would prevent contamination of the aquifer if a sinkhole does open, he said.
The pending Angelo's application features "a double geo-synthetic liner system, which allows for any leakage to be detected and collected so that it does not discharge into the environment," DEP officials write in a list of frequently asked questions about the project. "Angelo's will also be using an additional thick layer of clay under its lining system."
The department also is aware of the concerns about the proximity to the swamp, the list states: "We … can assure you that our commitment to protecting the Green Swamp is unwavering."
During the construction phase, DEP also inspects to make sure the landfill is being built to standards.
Arnold pointed out that there already is a dump in the area, and the county-owned dump is even closer to the Withlacoochee.
The opposition isn't convinced.
Carl Roth of Dade City is leader of the Protectors of Florida's Legacy, the group taking the lead in the campaign against the project.
There are plenty of examples of the fallibility of human engineering and the consequences, Roth said. He cited the sinking pilings of the Crosstown Expressway in Tampa that caused a portion of the roadway to collapse a few years ago and the ongoing saga of Hillsborough County's cracked reservoir.
To secure the permit, Angelo's must provide "reasonable assurances" to the state that the ground can support the landfill, Roth said.
"We do not believe they have," he said.
Pasco has the highest rate of sinkholes in the state, and the area around the proposed landfill has seen its share of sink holes open over the years, Roth said.
DEP does not have the resources to adequately monitor the landfill's day-to-day operation, he said.
And Roth noted that trash may be shipped from other areas to the dump on CSX rail lines that run through Hernando County.
"When you put all this together, what do you wind up with? An environmental disaster waiting to happen," Roth said.
DEP had planned to announce a decision on the permit this month, but has extended its deadline to Jan. 12. If approved, the opposition has two weeks to request an administrative hearing with the state.
Roth said the grassroots group may not have enough financial resources to mount an effective fight in court.
The Pasco County Commission has the final say, however. The board must still approve a change to the property's land use designation.
"As citizens, we believe we have a stronger case with the county," Roth said.
Murphy, the Hernando Audubon member, said he'd been lobbying former Hernando commissioners Diane Rowden and Chris Kingsley to take an opposition stance. Now he plans to ask the current board members to speak out and say they, too, fear that all the technological advances still don't provide enough assurances.
"Maybe that gamble would be acceptable if this landfill was 10 miles from the Green Swamp, but right up against it, that doesn't pass the smell test," he said.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT