The Heart of Florida landfill’s controversial permanent deep injection well won’t be activated for at least two years, according to officials of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).
Sumter County Commissioner Deb Butterfield and County Administrator Bradley Arnold discussed the landfill and the proposed well with two FDEP officials during a telephone conference earlier this month.
They have encouraged FDEP to conduct an informational town hall meeting on injection wells.
Matthew Knoll, deputy director of FDEP’s Division of Resource Management, told the Sumter County officials that the department supervises 236 active injection wells in Florida, including 152 municipal and 84 industrial wells, according to a report on the conference by Arnold.
Knoll said no issues with the wells have affected the water supply.
The landfill’s trial well will be tested for integrity using well water before a permit is issued for a permanent well. During a two-year construction period, the well will be repeatedly tested and monitored.
Knoll said the FDEP considers injection wells as a safe method of disposal for both hazardous and non-hazardous materials.
In Florida, only non-hazardous material may be injected even though the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows injection of hazardous material in other states.
Some failures have occurred. During the 1990s, more than 20 injection wells experienced mechanical or operational failures in south Florida. Two years ago, regulators approved injection wells at Piney Point, an industrial site in Manatee County, despite large spills of mining wastewater.
A Heart of Florida spokesman said the company is “deeply committed to environmental stewardship” and encouraged residents seeking information to visit the company’s web site at hoflenv.com.
The Heart of Florida injection well will be used for leachate, or runoff, from the landfill. Without the 3,200-foot-deep well, the landfill must truck the leachate to wastewater treatment plants out of the area.
The Tracy’s Point Community Club of Lake Panasoffkee is the latest entity to raise concerns about the proposed injection well. In a May 27 letter, the club called for a “thorough and review and investigation of current landfill operations and odor control measures.”
Officials of Sumter and Citrus counties also have expressed concerns about the well, located near Lake Panasoffkee but within the Bushnell city limits.
Area residents have complained for more than a year about substantial odors coming from the landfill. An on-site composting operation, possibly an odor source, is shutting down this summer.