Waste-To-Energy Can Protect Our Legacy

Published: Jul 6, 2007

There is an answer to lots of trash - trash to ash.

A group of citizens collectively known as Protectors of Florida's Legacy ( www.trashtoash.com) believes that humans are capable of coming up with amazingly wise answers to man's problems when given sufficient time to study uninfluenced by pressures from self-centered entities. In other words, we should look for the ultimate good.

There is a real and immediate task for Pasco County residents to determine the most beneficial method of waste disposal for the next three to four decades and to ensure that in 2060 no one discovers that the disposal was harmful after all.

After a two-year exhaustive study of waste disposal solutions, Pasco County officials decided in 1989 to close an existing garbage landfill and build the Shady Hills waste-to-energy facility. Do we really want to return to outdated methods now, considering the number of landfills in the United States has decreased from more than 20,000 in 1980 to 1,650 presently?

Expanding the waste-to-energy facility will better serve us in the long run and is the choice of most innovative communities around the world.

In addition, the Pasco County comprehensive land-use plan has designated northeast Pasco as a rural area that should maintain its natural scenic beauty. The environmentally significant Green Swamp and Withlacoochee River are amazing assets to Florida and the nation. Moreover, the Hillsborough River, which depends on water from the Green Swamp, serves as a primary source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people.

To appreciate why a Class 1 household garbage dump such as the one suggested in the Dade City area is bad for the entire region, all Pasco residents need a clear picture of exactly what is at stake.

The proposed site for the landfill is at the headwaters of three watersheds - the Withlacoochee to the north, Green Swamp to the east and Hillsborough to the south. It is about 6,000 feet from the Withlacoochee.

Should the landfill experience a significant sinkhole or other natural disaster resulting in a toxic waste spill into the aquifer, the health of people and animals would be at risk, and potential damage to the water supply also would be a concern.

For our children's sake, we simply can't afford to be charmed into a false sense of ecological security by those who stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars upon approval of their project. Thus, the purpose of Protectors of Florida's Legacy is to examine every aspect of Pasco's waste disposal problem and support the true solution.

Mountain Of Problems

Let's focus on the Florida Department of Environmental Protection permits sought by Angelo's Aggregate Materials for the Class 1 household garbage landfill it wants to build off County Road 35A three miles south of Dade City.

In the initial application, it appears the facility has been sized to keep it "under the radar" of the federal Clean Air Act. Were the facility to be regulated by the act, emitted greenhouse gases would have to be controlled at considerable expense to the owners.

But their savings will cost each of us quality air. According to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health, landfills like this produce greenhouse gases at a rate 115 times greater than a waste-to-energy plant such as Pasco's Shady Hills facility.

And what of safety because of a calculated additional 200 dump truck trips per day? While C.R. 35A is considered rural, I invite everyone to sit for 30 minutes at the intersection of Enterprise Road and 35A Monday through Friday and see the loaded truck traffic from a construction dump already in operation by Angelo's Aggregates.

Contrary to what proponents would have us believe, there will be many costs to taxpayers, landfill neighbors and others. Consider the $15 million the Pasco County government receives annually from Progress Energy for the energy generated by the Shady Hills facility.

Also, consider the county's lost tipping fees if new or subsequent private owners offer lower tipping fees. This lost revenue will have to be replaced by someone (i.e., taxpayers), and it's doubtful that a dump's owners will make up the difference.

Another cost to be considered is property values. Angelo's Aggregate states in its marketing materials that property values increase around a well-designed landfill. I suggest, for every example of this, five cases can be cited where property values decrease or property simply doesn't sell.

No matter how one paints the picture, in the end all would face a mountain of pungent garbage attracting seagulls, buzzards, rodents and insects.

We Don't Want The Risk

Am I to believe that once solid waste passes through the magic gates of a landfill, it will transform into something other than garbage? Should I believe this garbage will automatically compress to conform to the existing topographically unique landscape or cease to stink? As motorists enter the area, do we want them to be greeted by a landfill that's 220 feet high and shaped like a lopped-off pyramid?

Nobody wants a landfill in their own backyard, and we are no different. But the truth is this landfill system would not be the best use of taxpayers' dollars, no matter its location, and it risks negatively impacting the entire Tampa Bay region. That is not a risk we local citizens are willing to take.

The option of expanding the existing waste-to-energy facility will better serve us in the long run, and such expansion is the choice of most innovative communities in the world. Waste-to-energy is the best municipal solid waste disposal solution for Pasco County, our community and the future.

I invite all interested parties to visit Protectors of Florida's Legacy at www.trashtoash .com or call 1-800-813-0191.

The writer is a member of Protectors of Florida's Legacy, a group of 4,000 concerned citizens who oppose a proposed Class 1 landfill in Dade City.