Residents and commissioners press DEP on landfill monitoring after tests show contaminants
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Summary
Public commenters and commissioners raised renewed concerns about groundwater monitoring at the Coyote and Mohawk landfills, noting contaminants found in monitoring wells and requests for DEP to brief the board on site status, monitoring, and enforcement actions; county staff said DEP is the regulatory authority and owners have changed hands.
Multiple members of the public and several commissioners urged county staff to seek a formal briefing from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection about monitoring results and the regulatory status of two area landfills.
Public speakers cited sampling reports (2018 and earlier) that showed elevated levels of arsenic, aluminum and other constituents in monitoring wells at Coyote Landfill and the Mohawk (MVM) landfill, and asked why follow‑up testing and enforcement steps were not evident in county records. County environmental staff explained the wells in DEP reports are typically surficial monitor wells (not deep Floridan aquifer supply wells) and that DEP is the permitting and enforcement agency; staff also reported that permitting, monitoring and remediation are complex when site ownership has changed and when owners have been unresponsive.
Commissioners directed staff to contact DEP to request a status briefing to clarify what sampling and enforcement have occurred, whether additional sampling has been conducted since 2018, and what DEP’s next steps might be. County counsel and environmental staff noted the county’s authority over private landfills is limited; DEP is the primary regulator for solid waste permits and site assessment sampling. Public commenters also raised separate concerns about a recently issued Class I permit for a Mohawk facility and asked the county to review whether such permits and operations would conflict with county policy prohibiting out‑of‑county acceptance of Class I waste.
County staff said they would reach out to DEP, attempt to obtain recent reports and permitting records, and schedule DEP for a briefing or status update to the board if DEP agrees.
