Pasco, FL to Stop Exporting Trash to Out-of-County Landfill

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): Pasco Commission Chairman Mike Wells Jr. said he wasn’t questioning the integrity of Cloyd "Flip’’ Mellinger, assistant county administrator for infrastructure. He said it five times. But he certainly questioned the numbers Mellinger provided.

The back and forth last week ended with a unanimous commission following Wells’ lead to again reject Mellinger’s request to spend $400,000 to continue hauling county trash to a private landfill in Sumter County. 

In February, with Mellinger absent, the board declined to act. Last week, the commission decided to bury the trash at the county’s own landfill in Shady Hills for the next several months and track the expenses for comparison. Mellinger said it costs $32.15 per ton to bury the waste locally, compared to $26.48 to send it to the Heart of Florida Environmental landfill in Sumter County.

"I find it hard to believe it’s going to be less expensive for us to drive it to wherever … than to do it in our landfill,’’ Wells told Mellinger.

In particular, Wells questioned why the per-ton cost to bury the waste locally included the $9.22 million expense of closing and monitoring the landfill, which could be 16 years away. The money, he noted, already is set aside in a reserve. 

Subtracting the closing and monitoring costs – which are budgeted at $23.58 a ton – would put the local landfill expense at $8.57 per ton. Mellinger’s initial information didn’t include a break-down of those costs.

"We need to know everything if we want to make a decision,’’ said Wells.

Mellinger prefaced his presentation with a statement: "With the good Lord standing beside me here, my integrity remains intact. I don’t have any back room deals and my allegiance remains for the betterment of Pasco County,’’ he said. Mellinger hadn’t appeared before commissioners in a regular meeting since Feb. 6.

Courtesy: https://wasteadvantage.com