Pasco Landfill Gets Dumped On

Steve Andrews of WFLA TV did a job on the Pasco landfill sought by Angelo's Recycling. I don't think its fair. The story seemed one sided and missed some crucial points.

First, if we know anything about Pasco, its that politics rules. The county has been wide open for development and a land rush has taken place. How surprising that anyone opposes this landfill at all. Sure, some things are changing, but this blog is known for cynicism, so we looked for the politics in this issue, and it stinks.

The prevailing political power in east Pasco is water. It's a little like the movie Dune. Whoever controls the water, controls the county. In this case, the water barons are Robert Thomas and Bill Blanchard. They sell or plan to sell our underground water supplies to Nestle, which bottles it into Zephyrhills. They've taken so much water now that development is curtailed in the city of Zephyrhills because of lack of water. This water would otherwise flow into the Hillsborough River and supply Tampa. Its everyone's water, not their private cash machine.

These guys are pushing against the landfill and they've even hired Bob Martinez. They're not really about the environment, they're about money.

There are already landfills in the area of the proposed landfill. One is a county landfill that isn't even lined. A gift from the old days, it is already leaking. Second, there is a construction debris landfill run by Angelo's recycling. I have visited the site and it is a very clean operation. First class, as landfills go. But the worst environmental problem in the area is a chicken farm adjacent to the Green Swamp. It is a hell hole of pollution. Angelo's could actually reduce that by accepting some of that waste into the landfill.

We enviros used to hate landfills. Then we got incinerators and we began to think that landfills weren't so bad. Now, the landfill has been rethought, and is more like a compost pile. First, many valuable raw materials are salvaged (glass, plastic, paper, etc) and toxics are removed with programs to collect batteries and household wastes. Material that is dumped is inspected to avoid contamination of the cells.

A while back, people discovered that methane comes out of landfills. Then someone thought of using the leachate (runoff) from the landfill to generate more methane by pumping it back into the landfill to keep the buried waste decomposing. Finally, what is left is a compost. In the future, we may decide to extract other raw materials from the waste stream. All this is better than burning in an incinerator.

We're going to watchdog this thing to make sure it is done right, it it is done at all. Angelo's at least deserves a fair hearing free of the political influence that has spoiled Pasco politics in recent years. From our studies, it appears safe and saves money. It isn't the monster it is made out to be.

I spoke to Dominic Iafrate, the man that owns the land and would build the landfill. His family has been in this business a long time and they know it well. He doesn't like environmental problems and, in fact, his family will live in a house adjacent to the landfill. Do you really think it will be that bad if he is willing to live there? At least give him a fair hearing.