Residents Have Their Fill of Landfills: About 100 People Attend a Workshop to Hear Proposals to Tighten Regulations
By Dusty Ricketts, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach
Jan. 18–MILTON — Santa Rosa County officials plan to tighten regulations for future landfills and disposal pits in the county.
But residents who live near the existing ones want immediate relief from their fumes, sights and sounds.
The County Commission voted last September to suspend approving permits for new landfills until stricter regulations are approved. County staffers hosted a public workshop Tuesday evening to discuss changes they have proposed to regulate borrow pits, construction and demolition fills, land-clearing debris sites and sanitary landfills.
Proposals include:
Requiring each landfill to have liners to prevent contaminants from seeping into the soil and groundwater.
Requiring dirt to be placed over a landfill each week to reduce the chance of fires and to make blazes easier to fight if they do break out.
Requiring landfills to keep 650 cubic yards of dirt on site for fire suppression and to have a response plan if a larger fire breaks out.
Increasing the notification distance of who the county must notify when a new landfill is proposed. The county now notifies residents living within 150 feet of a site. That would be increased to 500 feet.
“We’re going to be about five years ahead of the state (with the landfill regulations),” said County Engineer Roger Blaylock, who led the workshop.
Commissioners are expected to discuss the changes next month and finalize them in March.
About 100 residents attended the session to talk about problems they face from living near landfills.
While some were pleased with the changes the county has suggested, others said the proposals did not have the teeth needed to regulate landfills if their operators do not comply with the new rules.
“What I’ve heard is very discouraging,” said Milton resident Wes Cummings. “A violator of a regulation will not get a renewal. That’s not adequate. That’s hardly punishment for someone who’s endangering our environment. There needs to be swift and sure punishment. (The rules) might as well not be on the books if they’re not going to be enforced.”
Cummings called for facilities that don’t meet the regulations to be closed immediately until they comply.
Nat Williams of Milton was concerned that some of the county’s proposals did not go far enough to protect the residents. He said the notification area should be much larger.
“A hundred and fifty feet I thought was appalling,” Williams said. “Five hundred feet I don’t think is good enough notification for our community. It needs to be a mile.”
Many residents asked for relief from the stench and health problems they said the dumps cause.
Dr. E.W. Sutton, who recently retired as Santa Rosa County’s health director and who lives near the Joiner Landfill in Milton, said the pits pose a health risk.
Julie England, who lives near the Joiner Landfill, said she has been to the doctor numerous times with respiratory problems from breathing in the fumes. She said her doctor has told her that she is no longer responding the medication and that she will likely need surgery to improve her breathing.
“The only thing that can be done is to shut down that dump today,” England said.
Daily News Staff Writer Dusty Ricketts can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 448.
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Copyright (c) 2007, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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