Commission: A tentative yes to dirty dirt

After being stand-offish last week with Florida's Turnpike Authority, Highlands County commissioners voted 3-1 to accept contaminated soil from the seven rest area service stations.

"It's not considered hazardous material by the DEP or the EPA," said Raymond Ashe, the turnpike's director of government affairs.

Throw a lit match on gasoline, diesel or oil contaminated diesel, and it would not ignite, said Ashe and Larry Campbell, the construction services program manager.

"Could it be mixed with asphalt?" asked Edgar Stokes. Highlands County owns an asphalt plant next to the landfill.

"Potentially," county landfill director Ken Wheeler said. However, the state Department of Environmental Protection has recommended not using petroleum-laced diesel in asphalt because of air quality problems.

"Then why is it okay to use it anywhere else?" Commissioner Jeff Carlson quizzed. After a two-hour discussion, he voted against the motion.

Last week

Campbell and Ashe asked the commission's permission to accept up to 4,800 truckloads of petroleum-contaminated dirt from the Florida Turnpike Authority.

Wheeler negotiated a $7.50 per ton price tag with the authority, which will generate from $600,000 to $900,000 in revenues. As the soil is decontaminated, 7,000 tons a year could be used daily over the next 11-17 years to cover the trash brought to the landfill, Wheeler said.

The authority will bring 80,000 to 120,000 tons through 2012, said Campbell. A double-lined cell will contain all the runoff, and the soil will be tested to make certain it's not contaminated.

The contaminated dirt will save money for the county, Wheeler asserted, because he won't have to excavate more.

Reversal

The best case scenario, Wheeler said, is to spread the soil with tractors, then turn the soil every seven days for five or six weeks. The sun and wind will evaporate most of the petroleum, he thought.

What's the worst case scenario, Carlson asked?

"We could still use it for cover material," County Administrator Michael Wright answered.

"As is?" asked Commissioner Don Bates.

"As is," Wright said.

Wright contends the aerated soil will save money for the county. Instead of mining sand from a pit on the landfill grounds and moving it to a mountain-like cell, it will be brought directly to the cell by the turnpike trucks.

Turnpike trucks won't come down U.S. 27, Campbell said.

"They will be required to drive a very specific route," he said. One reason why - if the load is spilled, even though it isn't hazardous, DEP will require a clean up.

Jack Richie, president of the Highlands County Homeowners Association, pointed out a 1989 settlement agreement between Wade Goolsby and Highlands County. In paragraphs 6 and 7, the county agreed that no hazardous waste would be disposed on the premises, and that the landfill will not be utilized by anyone other than Highlands County.

The soil is not hazardous, Campbell, Ashe and Wheeler repeated.

"It is not flammable," Ashe said.

"It is not considered flammable by DEP," Wright added.

Wright doesn't consider the dirt to be a liability.

"We've brought in a whole lot more hazardous material than this," Wright said.

Commissioner Barbara Stewart didn't feel comfortable voting for the motion without seeing safeguards in place, including a written work plan from the landfill staff about exactly how the material will be treated.

A final contract, when it is drawn up, will come before the commission for a final vote.