Wildwood has raised concerns about a proposed injection well at the Heart of Florida Landfill near Lake Panasoffkee.
In a letter to Richard Lobinske of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), the city’s deputy director of utilities wrote that the well could threaten the quality of drinking water.
“Deep injection wells provide a potential pathway for the contamination of sources of potable drinking water in both the upper and lower Florida aquifers,” Jason Marin wrote. “We believe a rigorous technical evaluation, involving local agencies and public stakeholders, is essential before this project is allowed to move forward.”
He wrote that Wildwood takes pride in delivering quality drinking water to more than 22,000 ratepayers.
FDEP issued a permit for a 3,200-foot-deep test well under the base of the Florida aquifer, estimated at 2,000 feet. If the test well is successful, a permit could be issued for a permanent well.
The injection well would be used to pump leachate, or landfill runoff, deep underground instead of trucking it to wastewater treatment plants out of the area.
Injection wells are controversial because some have failed. Failure can be caused by construction mistakes, hydrology issues or water quality problems that reduce transmissions to due scaling or bacteria.
Sumter County commissioners and officials of neighboring counties also have raised concerns about the proposed well.
Sumterville residents reported drilling vibrations that could be damaging their private wells, possibly causing three to collapse.
In letters to FDEP and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, Sumter County Administrator Bradley Arnold asked about these problems, noting that no mine blasting activity was occurring at the time.
For over a year, area residents also have complained about landfill odors.