The first pitch in

While to some it may look like just a big hole in the ground, to Scott Harper it's a new beginning.

Harper was one of about 20 people, including county commissioners, utilities department employees and community members, to celebrate the completion of a third landfill cell Thursday morning by tossing in the first trash bags and touring the recycling facility.

"To a garbage man, it's a beautiful sight," said Harper, the county's solid waste services manager.

Since 1992, the county landfill has been in service at its current location off U.S. 98 at 14450 Landfill Road. It was expected to run out of space at the end of August, creating pressure to finish the new cell quickly in order to prevent the county from having to ship garbage out of Hernando.

Due to the lack of space and increasing population, the county began construction on the third cell about six years ago at a total cost of about $9 million, Harper said.

"We are done on time and we are done under budget," Harper said. "It's a good day."

Utilities Director Joe Stapf said the new 23-acre cell can hold up to 3.4 million cubic yards of waste and has a life expectancy of 15 years.

Stapf said the county can start using the new cell after he receives the final authorization from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection certifying it was built according to approved plans.

"Thankfully we managed to get it done," Stapf said.

The new cell includes an on-site master pump station, a 175,000-gallon storage tank and a collection system to gather leachate, a liquid produced in landfills after rain seeps into the waste and mixes with the decomposed products, chemicals and other materials. Without a collection system, the leachate can enter the groundwater and create a health or environmental risk.

Hernando County is also focusing on the importance of recycling to help eliminate the recyclable tonnage from the landfill said Commissioner John Druzbick.

"It's a big advantage for us to have this new cell," Druzbick said. "Expanding our recycling efforts will expand the lifetime of the new cell."

Operating some 22 recycling plants nationwide, SP Recycling Corp. is now managing the recycling materials recovery facility.

Recyclable items include newspaper, paper, phone books, cardboard, plastic bottles 1 & 2, steel and aluminum cans. Hernando County Landfill also accepts electronic or e-waste (including old televisions, computers, VCRs, computer monitors).