The battle some Escambia County residents find themselves waging regarding nearby landfills is one some in Santa Rosa County have already fought.

Residents of the neighborhood around the Wedgewood Community Center have complained about odors from the Rolling Hills Construction & Demolition Landfill. Those concerns prompted the Escambia County Health Department to issue an air quality health alert on July 22 that included air quality monitoring.

On July 31, the state Department of Environmental Protection revoked Rolling Hill’s permit because of contaminated surface water found on the site, objectionable odors, disposal of unauthorized waste and failure to remedy the problems, among other violations.

The Wedgewood neighbors have been the driving force behind a six-month moratorium Escambia Commissioner approved last week while guidelines about permitting borrow pits, C&D pits and landfills are reviewed.

Stench and health concerns related to private landfills are the same kinds of problems that once plagued two Santa Rosa communities.

In September 2006, Navarre residents complained to the Santa Rosa County Commission about odor and possible groundwater contamination from the nearby Coyote Landfill. In January 2007, neighbors of the Joiner Landfill in Milton lodged similar complaints.

The landfills had swollen with debris left from cleanup and rebuilding following Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricane Dennis in 2005.

The DEP took action in both cases.

Coyote Landfill

At Coyote, the DEP ordered management to install a layer of dirt on top of the debris in the landfill to eliminate odor and to install a hydrogen sulfide monitoring system.

Additionally, Coyote admitted to DEP that benzene, arsenic, aluminum, iron, sulfate, and total dissolved solids found in groundwater monitoring wells at the site exceeded those allowable by state standards. It also admitted that contaminated water had leached beyond the boundaries of the facility.

After multiple failures to comply with the DEP’s demands that the facility clean up, Coyote lost the permit for its Navarre facility as well as similar operations in Walton and Bay counties.

“Coyote's three facilities have a long history of not complying with the Department's regulations and orders,” according to a final DEP order signed on July 11, 2011. “The Department had determined that based upon prior conduct, Coyote is an ‘irresponsible applicant.’”

DEP spokeswoman Brandy Smith said the Coyote matter is not yet completely resolved.

“Coyote was issued an order to close and found in contempt for not closing the facility properly as required by department rules,” Smith said. “Currently, the owner of the facility is in contempt of a Santa Rosa County Circuit Court’s final judgment, for failure to close the facility in accordance” with state rules.

Joiner Landfill

At Joiner, the DEP found that the dump had accepted prohibited materials, improperly burned materials, that disposal materials spilled outside of the permitted area, that cover fill was not installed as required and that objectionable odors were allowed to emanate from the facility, among other violations.

Joiner was denied a permit renewal on July 31, 2008, but also remains an issue.

“The facility was abandoned by the permit holder,” Smith said. “The facility has not been properly closed in accordance” with DEP rules.

On the local level, the Santa Rosa County Commission took action to stop similar facilities from becoming problems in the future.

New rules

The neighbors’ concerns lead commissioners to impose a temporary moratorium on new C&D pits in September 2006 and renewed in February 2007 for a year.

During the moratorium, the county worked on new requirements for C&D facilities intended to lessen the impact on their neighbors and make it easier to hold the owners accountable.

By the end of the moratorium, the commission had adopted new requirements that mandate linings to prevent leakage of effluent into the groundwater, collection system to capture any leakage, and financial assurances to be used if the facility must be shut down.

Since the new requirements have been in place, no new C&D facilities have opened in Santa Rosa County, according to county spokeswoman Joy Tsubooka.

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