Lake Worth Landfill

Phil Medico

Phil Medico of Sun Recycling was sitting in the back row of the commission chamber. Recently winning a case against Sunrise, Florida, Medico sees these successes as reasons to keep fighting, despite the many hurdles to opening markets in States such as ours. He says the company currently has a request before the governor to create a statutory exemption for C&D material. "We're still making efforts," he says. "Our company is committed to do whatever it takes to open these markets." See Southern Waste Systems in Legal Battle.

Southern Waste recently won entry into the market in Delray Beach, which has a franchise agreement with Waste Management, after the city attorney decided to drop a code violation citation. It also has a federal lawsuit against Coral Springs, Waste Management and the Broward Solid Waste Disposal District to gain entry into that city. Recently they were awarded new contracts in Broward County and Deerfield Beach. Sun knows how to get what it wants.

Read more: Legal victory in Sunrise will help Southern Waste compete - South Florida Business Journal

What Southern Waste Systems (Sun recycling) means to Lake Worthians:

• 1993 - $2,375,000 cost to Lake Worth taxpayers to close the landfill

• 20 years to reclaim land to make it safe for re-use

• 5-25-07 - Commission entered into a 3 year Contract with Sun Recycling for $1,000 a month to use the landfill as a staging area to haul debris from violent storms (hurricanes)

• Sun dumps over 6,000 truckloads of construction material on our landfill, some of which is 3.6 or 3.8 feet thick, hauling in material from south Florida construction sites. Trucks entering property late into the night. Contract was from 7am to 7pm.
  

• Endless complaints by residents near the landfill regarding health issues. Extensive research and exposes from Bill Coakley, informing the public and Commission as to what was occurring. No response from sitting Commission or Staff in charge.
  

• 2010 - City did not renew Contract.
  

• 6-1-10 - Mock Roos gives report that no testing or inspection was done at the landfill. City manager says although not budgeted, we need to evaluate the fill material. Mock Roos does borings and takes test samples at 12 locations on the dump site.

• 8-3-10 - Mock Roos's John Biggs says, "In my opinion, RSM should not have been placed on the site. Arsenic was found in the samples indicating higher levels than acceptable (1/3rd over threshold) in certain areas of the landfill for surrounding residential areas.


• Joe Kroll, Public Works Director who was in charge of the landfill site, says that it would cost $3 a yard to dump RSM elsewhere. Ed Deveaux, contractor, disputes that figure and says that it would cost $45 a ton and $90 a ton in Okeechobee. Stanton says, "Sun does not see the duty of restoring the site in the same way that the City does."

• Biggs reports that the Health department was to hold Sun Recycling accountable. Material was shipped to Sun's Site 4 and then shipped on to Site 5 implying that the testing requirement was circumvented.

• The City Manager was directed to write a letter to all those in the neighborhood of the landfill and notify them of MORE discussion. There will be another community meeting and God knows what next.

To me, this is so much more than just the alleged health issues of some in the neighborhood. If we had known unequivocally that no one would ever be feeling sick or that the material was totally safe and the dust would be mitigated, would it then have been all right to ruin our landfill for $1,000 a month?

This is about the millions wasted by horrendously bad decisions from the Dais that will be felt for several decades to come. How many more millions can we afford to burn?