September 25, 2020 Mount Dora City Council Meeting Re: The Dump

 

The post below is from  a comment on the Facebook group dedicated to the smell.

-The 9/24/20 Mt. Dora City Council Meeting motion to annex the Hubbard Construction C&D (Construction & Demolition) Landfill was TABLED until October 20th, 2020 meeting. City council members intend to tour the landfill site prior to this date. The City initially noted with the annexation, they would not be responsible for jurisdiction, permitting, use, or monitoring of the landfill as they did not have the expertise or code enforcement ordinances to do so. This is a major issue as mitigation of smells/issues would fall solely to the Hubbard Construction and the state, FDEP. The state only inspects annually, unless called with complaints. Four different area residents spoke noting the C&D landfill, at times, creates significant smells/air quality issues and they were opposed to the annexation if the City refused to be involved with the mitigation of issues. Counsel member, C. Stiles noted the City needed to be prepared to address air quality issues and assist in mitigation of any properties that fall within City limits. City Manager noted public works has an on-line work order system that residents can be used to report odor issues. City Attorney noted specific plans for City involvement with the landfill use & mitigation would be addressed and reviewed at the October 20th meeting. Additionally, a landfill advisor noted the landfill currently has capacity for another 20 years of use.

After the meeting, I was able to speak with the manger of the landfill, Mr. Mike Stasey who provided his personal cell phone number and requested we called or texted when issues came up. He noted when we get heavy rains, the organic barrier (dirt) gets washed away allowing the odors to escape. He also noted there were are 3 old existing "bays" that create the most issues and they would not be sealed/ capped for several more years. M. Stasey noted the property currently has 7 flares on site that self ignite when a certain amount of methane builds up, he did note however that they were sometimes turned off as they created other issues. I inferred that there were existing issues with this mitigation system that may have been in place when Hubbard bought the property in 2017. He noted any changes to their odor mitigation system (new burners)/ processes would have to go through the State for approval. He also said he as an open door, open communication policy and invites the public to tour the site any time.
I encourage you to attend the next City Council meeting on 10/20 at 5:30PM, at the Community Building and have your voice heard. It was discouraging at the start of this discussion that one council member said he received a letter about the smell issue, but said he felt the smell must be from the mushroom farm since it is only a mile away. (Its actually 4.8 miles away from 441 & 46).

You may report odors associated with the dump to Mount Dora at http://cityofmountdora.com/requesttracker.aspx  To report via email: Daniel.K.Hall@FloridaDEP.gov 

Provide your location, description of smell, with time & date of issue, and weather data from your weather app on your phone that shows the info on the Wind Speed, Pressure, Precipitation, Humidity, and temperature.

Amber

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