Committee backs $3 million match to test new biosolids technology amid rising disposal costs

Miami-Dade County27s Infrastructure Innovation and Technology Committee voted to pursue a $3 million local match to apply for a federal Environmental Protection Agency grant to test a vendor27s biosolids treatment technology, after members described current emergency disposal conditions and sharply higher contractor prices.

The request, described to the committee as an initial investment to qualify for a multi-phase EPA program, will fund a demonstration intended to prove the vendor27s process works before any county funds would be released. If the demonstration is successful, officials said the project could move to a second phase that supporters expect to be a roughly $100 million build-out with federal and private cost-sharing.

Committee members said the county faces immediate public-health and odor problems in the South District and that disposal prices have risen rapidly. The county27s director and staff told the…