Kicking the Can No. 3 - The Lake Worth City Commission

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Kicking the can down the Road No. 3

Every single person sitting on the dais should be informed on Sun Recycling and the course of events that began the problem at our landfill up to the day their lease was not renewed and what they did to our property. There is no excuse for ignorance in this matter...not one.

What Southern Waste Systems (Sun Recycling) means to Lake Worthians--a condensed history through Susan Stanton's tenure:

• 1993 - $2,375,000 cost to Lake Worth taxpayers to close the landfill (not mentioned last night)

• 20 years to reclaim land to make it safe for re-use (Mr. Biggs of Mock Roos in July 2010 said it would cost $1.5 million to restore our property but on Tuesday night he implied all was cool now--(It's going to cost much more than that)

• 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). If there was a hurricane, the ante went up to $3,000 a month. We made exactly $36,000 on our landfill that will now cost millions to restore.

• 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. (residential not mentioned Tuesday night)


• Joe Kroll, then 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." (not mentioned Tuesday night)

• 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.(not mentioned Tuesday night)

• The City Manager was directed to write a letter to all those in the neighborhood of the landfill and notify them of MORE discussion.

At any rate, all of the above lead up to where we are today. Sun was to surrender the property (Article 23) in accordance with the lease terms, in good order, condition and repair, as the same shall be on the date tenant opens for business in the Premises..."  Article 21 (c) says:  In addition to other rights and remedies available to landlord under this Lease and/or at law and/or in equity, tenant shall reimburse landlord upon demand all other reasonable costs, expenses and other sums reasonably incurred by landlord in connection with preparing and/or improving the Premises for Tenant's occupancy under this Lease and all collection costs and attorney's fees incurred in enforcing this Lease.

The above breach of lease is the only thing that should have been considered Tuesday night...not that grass had grown over the mess and all ''looked" fine...not that residents bordering the landfill were no longer hacking to death. It wasn't mitigated nor was the landfill "fine" as attested to by residents regarding the oder and the illness. 6,000 trucks drove onto our property depositing all sorts of material, some of it nasty, and their trucks very possibly/probably did damage to the membrane cap.

Sun agreed, per the Lease, to have our landfill looking exactly the same when they exited from the day they first signed this contract. It doesn't. They didn't. Now to make it right, someone has to pay multi-millions. City Manager Bornstein says it will be done. Who will pick up the cost?  We know it won't be Sun Recycling because the city does not want law suits and the city attorney advised Sun's lawyer to stay quiet and not say too much Tuesday night per Bart Cunningham. Good advice but he's OUR lawyer.

This is another major incident in our city that is being played down. I suppose it is because of costly litigation. The message that was given in THREES on Tuesday night, was that anyone can come into Lake Worth and do just about whatever they damn well please and it all can get twisted to justify it all.