Resident shows commissioners photos of illegal dumping, urges county-mulch contract to reduce roadside trash

A Palm Bay-area resident addressed Brevard County commissioners during the public-comment period on Aug. 26 to report widespread illegal dumping of vegetative debris and to propose a contracting approach to divert material from roadside piles into a mulching/processing operation.

The speaker displayed photographs taken near Industry Drive and Pineapple Avenue and said he had observed dozens of piles — in one spot he estimated roughly 80 — left on vacant lots and in ditches where the material can wash into the county's intercoastal waterway system. He said the county’s landfill now charges private landscapers for vegetative disposal, which he believes has incentivized illegal dumping.

The resident suggested the county lease acreage to a contractor who would mulch vegetative material, palletize or sell products, and reduce the county's liability and equipment costs. He pointed to an existing private heating plant across the Georgia line that accepts mulched wood and urged the county to explore similar regional markets for processed material.

County staff and commissioners responded on the record: one commissioner asked the resident to meet with Solid Waste Director Tom Mulligan to develop options; Solid Waste staff explained the Cocoa Landfill crushes concrete on-site and that locally the county contracts mulching at specific facilities. Staff acknowledged illegal dumping is difficult to eradicate and often requires collaborative cleanups with Road & Bridge, code enforcement and Waste Management.

Why it matters: illegal dumping can create water-quality risks when material enters roadside ditches and stormwater conveyances; it also imposes clean-up costs on county operations.

Quotes:
"The solution to this... maybe with the attorney's help here... the county could put it out for contract... and he can mulch it, and he could sell it and do whatever he wants," the resident said, proposing a contracted mulching site.

Ending: Commissioners asked the resident to meet with Solid Waste Director Tom Mulligan and staff to pursue tangible options; staff said several departments already respond to illegal dumping and that some material is handled under existing contracts.